Mechanism of multisoliton formation and soliton energy quantization in passively mode-locked fiber lasers

Journal Article · Sat Oct 15 00:00:00 EDT 2005 · Physical Review. A

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.72.043816· OSTI ID:20718808

Tang, D Y; Zhao, L M; Zhao, B; Liu, A Q ^[1]

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1. School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Nanyang Technological University (Singapore)

We report results of numerical simulations on multiple-soliton generation and soliton energy quantization in a soliton fiber ring laser passively mode locked by using the nonlinear polarization rotation technique. We found numerically that the formation of multiple solitons in the laser is caused by a peak-power-limiting effect of the laser cavity. It is also the same effect that suppresses the soliton pulse collapse, an intrinsic feature of solitons propagating in gain media, and makes the solitons stable in the laser. Furthermore, we show that the soliton energy quantization observed in the lasers is a natural consequence of the gain competition between the multiple solitons. Enlightened by the numerical result we speculate that multisoliton formation and soliton energy quantization observed in other types of soliton fiber lasers could have a similar mechanism.

• OSTI ID: 20718808
• Journal Information: Physical Review. A, Vol. 72, Issue 4; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.72.043816; (c) 2005 The American Physical Society; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1050-2947
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
GAIN
LASER CAVITIES
LASER RADIATION
MODE LOCKING
NONLINEAR PROBLEMS
OPTICAL FIBERS
POLARIZATION
PULSES
QUANTIZATION
RING LASERS
ROTATION
SOLITONS