Non-covalent bonds between optical solitons in an optoacoustically mode-locked fiber laser: Analysis & modelling

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates the formation of stable, ordered structures of optical solitons through non-covalent, long-range interactions in an optoacoustic mode-locked fiber laser, supported by a theoretical model and experimental evidence.

Contribution

It introduces a theoretical model and experimental validation for non-covalent, long-range binding of optical solitons, a phenomenon not previously observed.

Findings

Stable, ordered soliton structures can be formed via non-covalent interactions.

Long-range soliton interactions can be tailored for controlled assembly.

Experimental results support the proposed binding mechanism.

Abstract

Binding of particles through weak (non-covalent) interactions plays a central role in multiple modern disciplines, from Cooper pairing of electrons in superconductivity to formation of supramolecules in biochemistry. Optical solitons, which are analogous in many ways to particles, arise from a balance between nonlinearity and dispersion and have only been known to be able to form molecule-like, localized structures through covalent interactions due to direct overlapping. Non-covalent binding of optical solitons that based on long-rang interactions have, however, so far escaped experimental observations. Long-range interactions between optical solitons have proven almost impossible to control, generally leading to disorder. In this paper, however we show that by tailoring weak, long-range soliton interactions, a large population of optical solitons in an optoacoustic mode-locking fiber laser can assemble into stable, highly-ordered structures that resemble biochemical supramolecules. We demonstrate here a theoretical model of the non-covalent binding mechanism, and provide some experimental results supporting this model.