Gain Depletion and Recovery as a Key Mechanism of Long-Range Pulse Interactions in Soliton Fiber Laser
Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: Soliton interaction through gain depletion and recovery (GDR) is one of the known mechanisms of long-range pulse interactions in soliton fiber lasers. It has been commonly assumed that the GDR mechanism produces only repulsive interactions, leading to an evenly spaced pulse configuration of harmonic mode-locking. However, our theoretical investigations and numerical simulations of the GDR-induced soliton interactions in fiber lasers, mode-locked by nonlinear polarization evolution, reveal a different perspective. We have found that the GDR soliton interaction is sensitive to the generation of dispersive waves and the formation of intense soliton pedestals. These can be controlled by altering the laser polarization settings. Interestingly, under certain conditions, we observed that the GDR interaction facilitates mutual long-range attraction between solitons. Our direct numerical simulations demonstrate that depending on the polarization settings, the initial soliton configuration in the laser cavity can evolve into various multisoliton ensembles. For instance, in the final stage, a soliton group may transform into a stationary harmonic mode-locking state or evolve into a complex of bound solitons. These findings suggest a new basis for explaining the effects observed during transitions between multisoliton formations, which occur due to changes in the polarization settings of the fiber soliton laser.
Source: Journal of Lightwave Technology
Institutions: Ulyanovsk State University, University of Mons
Language: English
Subfield: Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funder: Russian Science Foundation
Award: G1907683792
OpenAlex ID: W4398775889