Coexistence of stable dark- and bright-soliton Kerr combs in normal-dispersion resonators

Using the Lugiato-Lefever model, we analyze the effects of third-order chromatic dispersion on the existence and stability of dark- and bright-soliton Kerr frequency combs in the normal dispersion regime. While in the absence of third-order dispersion only dark solitons exist over an extended parameter range, we find that third-order dispersion allows for stable dark and bright solitons to coexist. Reversibility is broken and the shape of the switching waves connecting the top and bottom homogeneous solutions is modified. Bright solitons come into existence thanks to the generation of oscillations in the switching-wave profiles. Temporal oscillatory instabilities of dark solitons are suppressed in the presence of sufficiently strong third-order dispersion, while bright solitons are never found to oscillate in time. As a result of third-order dispersion both bright and dark solitons are found to move with a velocity that depends on their width.