Theory of filter-induced modulation instability in driven passive optical resonators

We present the theory of modulation instability induced by spectrally dependent losses (optical filters) in passive driven nonlinear fiber ring resonators. Starting from an Ikeda map description propagation equation and boundary conditions, we derive a mean-field model---a generalized Lugiato-Lefever equation---which reproduces with great accuracy predictions map. The effects on gain comb generation different control parameters such as dispersion, cavity detuning, filter spectral position, bandwidth are discussed.