One Soliton Comb vs. Many WDM Lasers

Recent advances from researchers at University of California, Riverside and OEwaves show that pure quartic soliton (PQS) microcombs are making waves in optical communications. Instead of using many individual CW lasers in a wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) setup, a single CW-pumped microresonator can generate a comb with remarkably uniform spectral teeth.

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Here’s what makes PQS microcombs exciting:

• They produce nearly Gaussian pulse trains with very little variation in power from one comb tooth to another — ideal for replacing multiple discrete lasers.
• Efficiency is better, since the conversion of pump power to comb frequencies is more effective than in traditional dissipative Kerr soliton (DKS) sources.
• The device architecture works with modest-power CW lasers, rather than needing complex mode-locked laser sources, lowering complexity and cost.
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For modern data-centers, quantum optics, spectroscopy, and communications in general, this is a big deal: fewer lasers means less hardware, lower energy, and simpler setups — while delivering the uniform spectrum needed for high performance.

At OEwaves, technologies like this PQS microcomb align with our drive toward ultra-low noise, compact, high stability light sources. Could this be the future backbone of high channel-count fiber links and quantum tools alike? We believe so.

Read more here.