Polarization attractors driven by vector soliton rain

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates a novel polarization attractor mechanism driven by vector soliton rain in a mode-locked fiber laser, with controllable polarization states that can be tuned from spiral to circular trajectories, advancing understanding of multisoliton dynamics.

Contribution

It introduces the first experimental and theoretical demonstration of polarization attractors influenced by vector soliton rain in fiber lasers, enabling control over polarization trajectories.

Findings

Polarization attractors can be controlled by pump power adjustments.

Vector soliton rain induces rotating polarization states.

Trajectories on the Poincaré sphere can be transformed from spiral to circle.

Abstract

Soliton rain is a bunch of small soliton pulses slowly drifting nearby the main pulse having the period of a round trip. For Er-doped fiber laser mode-locked by carbon nanotubes, for the first time, we demonstrate both experimentally and theoretically a new type of polarization attractors controllable by the vector soliton rain. With adjusting the pump power, vector soliton rain takes the form of pulses with rotating states of polarization which enable transforming slowly evolving trajectories on the Poincar\'e sphere from the double-scroll spiral to the circle. The obtained results on controlling complex multisoliton dynamics can be of interest in laser physics and engineering with potential applications in spectroscopy, metrology, and biomedical diagnostics.