Abstract

The generation of broad and coherent optical frequency combs (OFCs) in passive Kerr resonators mostly relies on the emergence of localized bright structures called temporal cavity solitons in the anomalous dispersion regime [1]. In contrast, the generation of OFCs in normal dispersion resonators remains more challenging and is mainly based on switching waves dynamics [2]. Here, by leveraging a spontaneous symmetry breaking (SSB) phenomenon occurring between the two polarization eigenmodes of a coherently-driven normally dispersive fibre Kerr resonator [5]. These vectorial temporal structures originate from the polarization SSB and associated polarization modulational instability (PMI), combined with switching wave dynamics that result in the interlocking of two, sharp polarization fronts of opposite handedness.

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