Soliton-similariton switchable ultrafast fiber laser

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates a switchable ultrafast fiber laser capable of generating dispersion-managed solitons or similaritons, with controllable emission and distinct spectral and phase characteristics, advancing fiber laser technology.

Contribution

It introduces a novel all-fiber Erbium-doped laser that can switch between DM solitons and similaritons by controlling birefringence, with experimental validation of their properties.

Findings

Achieved 87-fs DM solitons and 248-fs similaritons.

Spectral width of similaritons depends exponentially on pump power.

Measured phase profiles confirm distinct chirp characteristics.

Abstract

For the first time, we demonstrated alternative generation of dispersion-managed (DM) solitons or similaritons in an all-fiber Erbium-doped laser. DM solitons or similaritons can be chosen to emit at the same output port by controlling birefringence in the cavity. The pulse duration of 87-fs for DM solitons and 248-fs for similaritons have been observed. For proof of similaritons, we demonstrate that the spectral width depends exponentially on the pump power, consistent with theoretical studies. Besides, the phase profile measured by a frequency-resolved optical gating (FROG) is quadratic corresponding to linear chirp. In contrast, DM solitons show non-quadratic phase profile.