Dispersion map induced energy transfer between solitons in optical fibres

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates how a dispersion map in optical fibers can induce energy transfer between colliding solitons, enabling potential amplification without the need for third-order dispersion or Raman effects.

Contribution

It introduces an experimental setup with a dispersion map that facilitates energy exchange between solitons during collisions, leading to significant amplification.

Findings

Energy transfer exceeding 20% per collision

Normal dispersion segment enables soliton energy exchange

Sequential collisions can amplify soliton energy substantially

Abstract

We propose an experimental setup to study collision-induced soliton amplification. In an optical fibre with anomalous dispersion ($\beta_2 < 0$), we replace a small region of the fibre with a normal dispersion fibre ($\beta_2 > 0$). We show that solitons colliding in this region are able to exchange energy. Depending on the relative phase of the soliton pair, we find that the energy transfer can lead to an energy gain in excess of $20\%$ for each collision. A sequence of such events can be used to enhance the energy gain even further, allowing the possibility of considerable soliton amplification. This energy transfer does not require a third order dispersion or Raman term.