  Continuous-wave laser driven Kerr-nonlinear, optical microresonators have
enabled a variety of novel applications and phenomena including the generation
of optical frequency combs, ultra-low noise microwaves, as well as, ultra-short
optical pulses. In this work we break with the paradigm of the continuous-wave
optical drive and use instead periodic, pico-second optical pulses. We observe
the deterministic generation of stable femtosecond dissipative cavity solitons
on-top of the resonantly enhanced driving pulse. Surprisingly, the soliton
pulse locks to the driving pulse enabling direct all-optical control of both
the soliton's repetition rate and carrier-envelope offset frequency without the
need for any actuation on the microresonator. When compared to both
continuous-wave driven microresonators and non-resonant pulsed supercontinuum
generation, this new approach is substantially more efficient and can yield
broadband frequency combs at femto-Joule driving pulse energies and average
laser powers significantly below the parametric threshold power of
continuous-wave driven microresonators. The presented results bridge the fields
of continuous-wave driven resonant and pulse-driven non-resonant nonlinear
optics. They enables micro-photonic pulse compression, ultra-efficient low
noise frequency comb and resonant supercontinuum generation for applications
including optical data transfer and optical spectroscopy. From a scientific
perspective the results open a new horizon for nonlinear photonics driven by
temporally and spectrally structured light.
