Single-pump thermally stabilized access to dissipative Kerr solitons via orthogonally polarized fundamental modes

Thermally induced resonance shifts accompanying dissipative Kerr soliton formation can move the laser-cavity detuning outside the soliton-supporting range, hindering reliable soliton access in integrated microresonators. We demonstrate thermally stabilized access to a dissipative Kerr soliton in a Si3N4 microresonator using a single external continuous-wave pump laser coupled to two closely spaced, orthogonally polarized fundamental resonances, TE0 and TM0. The auxiliary resonance supplies compensating intracavity heat, while the input polarization controls the power distribution between the soliton-forming and auxiliary modes. Thermally augmented coupled-Lugiato–Lefever equation simulations and systematic measurements identify a soliton access window governed by the resonance separation fdiff and pump polarization ratio rTE; excessively small or large fdiff suppresses stable soliton access. Polarization-resolved measurements separate the TE0 soliton from the TM0 primary comb without an auxiliary laser, RF modulation, or higher-order spatial modes. Similar thermally stabilized access is observed when the polarization roles are reversed, demonstrating the generality of this compact approach.