Abstract
Bound states of femtosecond solitons are generated and controlled in a commercial sub-10 fs Kerr-lens mode-locked ultrashort oscillator. Using real-time time-stretch interferometry, we resolve the resonance of vibrating soliton molecules and demonstrate all-optical switching between stable bound-states of different binding distance.
Highlights
IntroductionInteractions between individual solitons are observed in a variety of physical systems, spanning from optical fibers, photorefractive media, water surfaces to BoseEinstein condensates
Interactions between individual solitons are observed in a variety of physical systems, spanning from optical fibers, photorefractive media, water surfaces to BoseEinstein condensates.Mode-locked lasers represent dissipative nonlinear systems which routinely generate single solitonic pulses but - more generally – are known to support complex bound states of multiple solitons [1,2]
Time-stretch dispersive Fourier transform (TS-DFT) and high-speed real-time sampling enables the observation of rapid intracavity soliton dynamics with femtosecond separations at the single-shot level and over hundreds of thousand consecutive roundtrips [3,4]
Summary
Interactions between individual solitons are observed in a variety of physical systems, spanning from optical fibers, photorefractive media, water surfaces to BoseEinstein condensates. Mode-locked lasers represent dissipative nonlinear systems which routinely generate single solitonic pulses but - more generally – are known to support complex bound states of multiple solitons [1,2]. Rapid dynamic interactions between soliton complexes with pico- to femtosecond separations are typically inaccessible to standard laser characterization techniques, such as scanning interferometric autocorrelation, temporally-averaging spectroscopy or single-shot nonlinear detection. We present real-time access to rapid bound state dynamics in a commercial few-cycle broadband Kerr-lens mode-locked Ti:sapphire oscillator. Employing a frequency-dependent external perturbation we probe the resonance behaviour of optical soliton molecules which parallels molecular oscillators. We implement all-optical control of the soliton molecule states and demonstrate the reversible switching of femtosecond soliton separations. The presented scheme presents a unique testbed for the complex dynamics of dissipative soliton bound states and external control strategies thereof
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