We report phase and amplitude measurements of large coherent structures originating from the noise-induced modulation instability in optical fibers. By using a specifically designed time-lens system (SEAHORSE) in which aberrations are compensated, the complex field is recorded in single-shot over long durations of 200 ps with sub-picosecond resolution. Signatures of Akhmediev breather-like patterns are identified in the ultrafast temporal dynamics in very good agreement with numerical predictions based on the nonlinear Schrödinger equation.
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