Oscillatory self-organization dynamics between soliton molecules induced by gain fluctuation

Area of Science:

• Nonlinear Optics
• Fiber Laser Technology
• Optical Solitons

Background:

• Passively mode-locked fiber lasers (PMLFLs) exhibit complex dissipative soliton (DS) structures.
• Controlling these self-organized soliton structures with external factors remains challenging.
• Understanding soliton molecule interactions is crucial for advanced optical applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the external control of dissipative soliton structures in PMLFLs.
• To determine the influence of modulated pump power on soliton molecule localization.
• To explore the potential for optical information storage and processing applications.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a passively mode-locked fiber laser setup.
• Applied slow, modulated pump power with periodic fluctuations.
• Observed and analyzed the spatial distribution and internal structure of soliton molecules.

Main Results:

• Demonstrated control over the inter-molecular separation of two soliton molecules at critical pump power.
• Observed oscillation between soliton molecular complexes and stable distributions with maximum separation.
• Identified slow gain depletion and recovery as the dominant mechanism governing soliton molecule motion.

Conclusions:

• External modulation of pump power offers a viable method for controlling soliton molecule positions in PMLFLs.
• The internal structure of soliton molecules remains stable during controlled spatial manipulation.
• These findings advance the molecular analogy in spectroscopy and open avenues for optical data storage.