# PHz-wide spectral interference through coherent plasma-induced fission   of higher-order solitons

**Authors:** F. K\"ottig, F. Tani, J. C. Travers, P. St.J. Russell

arXiv: 1702.02457 · 2017-08-17

## TL;DR

This paper explores a new regime of soliton-plasma interactions where high-order solitons undergo coherent plasma-induced fission, resulting in PHz bandwidth pulse pairs, bridging gaps between known plasma effects.

## Contribution

It introduces a novel plasma-induced fission regime for higher-order solitons in gas-filled fibers, supported by experiments and simulations.

## Key findings

- Pulse splitting occurs before self-compression due to ionization-induced blueshift.
- Generation of robust pulse pairs with PHz bandwidths.
- Bridging the gap between plasma-induced adiabatic compression and modulational instability.

## Abstract

We identify a novel regime of soliton-plasma interactions in which high-intensity ultrashort pulses of intermediate soliton order undergo coherent plasma-induced fission. Experimental results obtained in gas-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fibers are supported by rigorous numerical simulations. The cumulative blueshift of higher-order input solitons with ionizing intensities results in pulse splitting before the ultimate self-compression point, leading to the generation of robust pulse pairs with PHz bandwidths. The novel dynamics closes the gap between plasma-induced adiabatic soliton compression and modulational instability.

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Source: https://tomesphere.com/paper/1702.02457