Reconfigurable dynamics of optical soliton molecular complexes in an ultrafast thulium fiber laser

Abstract

Dissipative optical solitons of particle-like structures can form soliton molecules with striking molecule-like interactions. However, the experimental investigation of soliton molecules in ultrafast lasers is still largely confined to bound states of only two solitons and is far from being explored for soliton molecular complexes. Here, the reconfigurable switching of soliton molecular complexes originating from the binding of two soliton-pair molecules was demonstrated around 2 μm, simultaneously opening an emerging window in the longer wavelength. The periodic switching of soliton molecules with dual-stability can be resolved. Moreover, the single and multiple successively switching of soliton molecules can be triggered by the collision of drifting soliton or control over saturable absorption parameters. Further, the consecutive reversible switching with high fidelity is verified in soliton molecules with periodic pump modulation. These results unveil the dynamical soliton interaction and motivate potential applications in ultrafast spectroscopy, information encoding, and computations.

Controlling intracavity dual-comb soliton motion in a single-fiber laser

“…Previous real-time measurements of ultrafast laser dynamics uncovered that pairs of solitons, so-called "soliton molecules, " rapidly evolve on temporal separations from nano-down to femtoseconds (5)(6)(7)(8)(9). Applying external stimuli, i.e., pump power modulations, allows for controlling soliton motion to certain degrees, such as the switching between fixed soliton bound states in Ti:sapphire, erbium-, and thulium-doped-fiber lasers (10)(11)(12)(13)(14). However, the separations of bound states are dictated by laser-specific effects such as Raman scattering or intracavity reflexes and cannot or only slowly be adjusted (12,15,16).…”

Phase-tailored assembly and encoding of dissipative soliton molecules

“…While staring at the solitonic bound states down to several picoseconds even sub-picoseconds, precise manipulation of intra-molecular dynamics emerges into the scientific spotlight, echoing the degrees of freedom towards temporal separations and relative phases 29 . In consideration of the energy exchange within molecular structures, direct pump modulation is exploited to harness the multisoliton interactions for a rapid switching between discrete binding states, principally referring to the temporal separations 20 , 30 . Recent parallel work further performs on-demand harnessing of soliton molecules between each predetermined value of the temporal separation by varying the second-order group-velocity dispersion and dispersion losses 31 , 32 .…”

Phase-tailored assembly and encoding of dissipative soliton molecules

“…binding states, principally referring to the temporal separations 20,30 . Recent parallel work further performs on-demand harnessing of soliton molecules between each predetermined value of the temporal separation by varying the second-order group-velocity dispersion and dispersion losses 31,32 .…”