Temporal Talbot Effect: From a Quasi-Linear Talbot Carpet to Soliton Crystals and Talbot Solitons

TL;DR

This paper explores the transition from linear to nonlinear temporal Talbot effects in optical fibers, revealing regimes with soliton crystals and Talbot solitons, and demonstrating their potential for pulse repetition-rate multiplication.

Contribution

It introduces a comprehensive numerical analysis of the nonlinear temporal Talbot effect, identifying regimes with soliton crystals and Talbot solitons, and clarifies their formation and properties.

Findings

Identified three input-power-dependent regimes in the temporal Talbot effect.

Discovered soliton crystals in the intermediate regime, not rogue waves.

Demonstrated Talbot-solitons for pulse repetition-rate multiplication.

Abstract

The temporal Talbot effect refers to the periodic self-imaging of pulse trains in optical fibers. The connection between the linear and nonlinear temporal Talbot effect is still not fully understood. To address this challenge, we use Soliton Radiation Beat Analysis and numerically investigate the evolution of a phase-modulated continuous-wave laser input in a passive single-mode fiber. We identify three input-power-dependent regimes and their Talbot carpets: the quasi-linear regime for low input powers, the intermediate one, and separated Talbot solitons for higher powers. We show that the intermediate regime hosts soliton crystals rather than rogue waves, as reported in the literature. The Talbot-solitons beating can be used for pulse repetition-rate multiplication in the nonlinear regime. We also show two types of solitons involved: some encoded in the whole frequency comb and the individual solitons carried only by particular comb lines.