Rare frustration of optical supercontinuum generation

TL;DR

This paper reports the discovery of rare spectral gaps called rogue voids in supercontinuum generation, caused by suppression effects, which are statistically distinct and can be externally controlled, highlighting new extreme event phenomena.

Contribution

It introduces the concept of rogue voids as rare suppression events in supercontinuum generation, expanding understanding of extreme optical phenomena beyond rogue waves.

Findings

Rogue voids follow a reverse-heavy-tailed distribution.

Suppression of spectral broadening causes rogue voids.

Weak control pulses can induce rogue voids externally.

Abstract

Extremely large, rare events arise in various systems, often representing a defining character of their behavior. Another class of extreme occurrences, unexpected failures, may appear less important, but in applications demanding stringent reliability, the rare absence of an intended effect can be significant. Here, we report the observation of rare gaps in supercontinuum pulse trains, events we term rogue voids. These pulses of unusually small spectral bandwidth follow a reverse-heavy-tailed statistical form. Previous analysis has shown that rogue waves, the opposite extremes in supercontinuum generation, arise by stochastic enhancement of nonlinearity. In contrast, rogue voids appear when spectral broadening is suppressed by competition between pre-solitonic features within the modulation-instability band. This suppression effect can also be externally induced with a weak control pulse.