Driven Kerr nonlinear optical resonators can sustain localized structures known as dissipative Kerr cavity solitons, which have recently attracted significant attention as the temporal counterparts of microresonator optical frequency combs. While conventional wisdom asserts that bright cavity solitons can only exist when driving in the region of anomalous dispersion, recent theoretical studies have predicted that higher-order dispersion can fundamentally alter the situation, enabling bright localized structures even under conditions of normal dispersion driving. Here we demonstrate a flexible optical fiber ring resonator platform that offers unprecedented control over dispersion conditions, and we report on the first experimental observations of bright localized structures that are fundamentally enabled by higher-order dispersion. In broad agreement with past theoretical predictions, we find that several distinct bright structures can coexist for the same parameters, and we observe experimental evidence of their collapsed snaking bifurcation structure. Our results also elucidate the physical mechanisms that underpin the bright structures, highlighting the key role of spectral recoil due to dispersive wave emission. In addition to enabling direct experimental verifications of a number of theoretical predictions, we show that the ability to judiciously control the dispersion conditions offers a novel route for ultrashort pulse generation: the bright structures circulating in our resonator correspond to pulses of light as short as 230 fs—the record for a passive all-fiber ring resonator. We envisage that our work will stimulate further fundamental studies on the impact of higher-order dispersion on Kerr cavity dynamics, as well as guide the development of novel ultrashort pulse sources and dispersion-engineered microresonator frequency combs.

中文翻译：

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在正常色散驱动下，Kerr谐振器中明亮的耗散空腔孤子及其坍塌的蛇行的实验观察

驱动的Kerr非线性光学谐振器可以维持称为耗散Kerr腔孤子的局部结构，近来作为微谐振器光学频率梳的时间对应物引起了人们的极大关注。尽管传统观点认为明亮的腔孤子只能在反常色散区域中驱动时存在，但最近的理论研究预测，高阶色散可以从根本上改变情况，即使在正常色散驱动的条件下也可以实现明亮的局部结构。在这里，我们演示了一种灵活的光纤环形谐振器平台，该平台可对色散条件提供空前的控制，并且我们报告了明亮的局部结构的初步实验观察，这些结构基本上是由高阶色散实现的。与过去的理论预测基本一致，我们发现对于相同的参数，可以有几个不同的明亮结构共存，并且我们观察到它们塌陷的蛇行分叉结构的实验证据。我们的结果还阐明了支撑明亮结构的物理机制，强调了由于色散波发射而引起的频谱反冲的关键作用。除了能够对大量理论预测进行直接的实验验证之外，我们还表明，能够明智地控制色散条件的能力为超短脉冲的产生提供了一条新颖的途径：谐振器中循环的明亮结构对应于短至230的光脉冲fs-无源全光纤环形谐振器的记录。