Evolution of light trapped by a soliton in a microstructured fiber

TL;DR

This paper investigates the dynamics of pulse trapping and release in a microstructured fiber, revealing how solitons trap and release pulses near zero dispersion, with implications for supercontinuum generation.

Contribution

It provides new insights into the behavior of light trapping by solitons in microstructured fibers, especially near zero group velocity dispersion.

Findings

Trap duration is less than 4 ps with a 1 ps pulse inside.

Released pulses expand asymmetrically to over 10 ps.

Trapping dynamics remain stable at high input energies.

Abstract

We observe the dynamics of pulse trapping in a microstructured fiber. Few-cycle pulses create a system of two pulses: a Raman shifting soliton traps a pulse in the normal dispersion regime. When the soliton approaches a wavelength of zero group velocity dispersion the Raman shifting abruptly terminates and the trapped pulse is released. In particular, the trap is less than 4ps long and contains a 1ps pulse. After being released, this pulse asymmetrically expands to more than 10ps. Additionally, there is no disturbance of the trapping dynamics at high input pulse energies as the supercontinuum develops further.