Time-domain simulations of nonlinear interaction in microring resonators using finite-difference and coupled mode techniques.

Nonlinear interactions within compact, on-chip microring resonant cavities is a topic of increasing interest in current silicon photonics research. Frequency combs, one of the emerging nonlinear applications in microring optics, offers great potential from both scientific and practical perspectives. However, the mechanisms of comb formation appear to differ from traditional frequency combs formed by pulsed femtosecond lasers, and thus require detailed elucidation through theory and simulation. Here we propose a technique to mimic the accuracy of finite-difference time domain (FDTD) full wave nonlinear optical simulations with only a small fraction of the computational resources. Our new hybrid approach combines a single linear FDTD simulation of the key interaction parameters, then directly inserts them into a coupled-mode theory simulation. Comparison of the hybrid approach and full FDTD shows a good match both in frequency domain and in time domain. Thus, it retains the advantage of FDTD in terms of direct connection with experimental designs, while finishing much faster and sidestepping stability issues associated with direct simulation of nonlinear phenomena. The hybrid technique produces several key results explored in this paper, including: demonstrating that comb formation can occur with both anomalous and normal dispersion; suggesting a new mechanism for incoherent (Type II) frequency comb formation; and illustrating a method for creating soliton-like pulses in on-chip microresonators.