Versatile mode-locked fiber laser with switchable operation states of bound solitons

Bound states of two solitons are among the typical forms of bound states and can be observed in various operation states of mode-locked fiber lasers. We experimentally investigated bound solitons (BSs) in a passively mode-locked erbium-doped fiber laser based on a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror, whose operation states can be switched among multiple pulses, passively harmonic mode-locking, and "giant pulses" by simply adjusting the in-line polarization controller with the pump power fixed. Up to four pulses, fourth-order harmonic mode-locking (HML), and a "giant pulse" with four BSs were obtained with increasing pump power. Experimental results showed a correlative relationship among those operation states (N pulses/Nth-order HML/"giant pulses" of N bound solitons) at different pump power levels. The birefringence induced by the erbium-doped fiber inside the laser cavity played a vital role in the transitions of those operation states.