Trapping of light in solitonic cavities and its role in the supercontinuum generation

TL;DR

This paper explores how solitonic cavities formed by higher-order soliton fission influence supercontinuum generation, revealing mechanisms of light trapping, spectral shifts, and controllable soliton collisions.

Contribution

It introduces the concept of solitonic cavities created during soliton fission and analyzes their impact on supercontinuum spectral properties and soliton interactions.

Findings

Solitonic cavities trap dispersive light between solitons.

Multiple reflections cause soliton trajectory bending and collisions.

Spectral shifts occur in both solitons and trapped light.

Abstract

We demonstrate that the fission of higher-order N-solitons with a subsequent ejection of fundamental quasi-solitons creates solitonic cavities, formed by a pair of solitons with dispersive light trapped between them. As a result of multiple reflections of the trapped light from the bounding solitons which act as mirrors, they bend their trajectories and collide. In the spectral-domain, the two solitons receive blue and red wavelength shifts, respectively. The spectrum of the bouncing trapped light alters as well. This phenomenon strongly affect spectral characteristics of the generated supercontinuum. Studies of the system's parameters, which are responsible for the creation of the cavities, reveal possibilities of predicting and controlling soliton-soliton collisions induced by multiple reflections of the trapped light.