Polarization dynamics of a vector cavity soliton in a birefringent fiber resonator

Abstract

We investigate theoretically the polarization dynamics of vector cavity solitons in a birefringent fiber resonator exhibiting net anomalous dispersion. The well-known Lugiato-Lefever equation is adopted to capture the intracavity field dynamics when two orthogonal modes are coupled via nonlinear cross-phase modulation. Numerical simulations reveal the coexistence of different nonlinear states, such as cavity solitons (CSs) with a modulation instability pattern, two identical CSs, or a nonidentical pair of CSs depending on the external parameters. We distinguish three different types of coexisting CSs based on their polarization properties. Stokes parameters and Jones vector analysis are employed to extract the spatial energy flux distribution and the complex electric field associated with each polarization mode, respectively. We observe that the group-velocity mismatch affects the individual CS dynamics which has direct consequences of their polarization states. Our detailed findings with the polarization properties of CSs will enrich the understanding of dissipative vector CS dynamics in a passive birefringent fiber resonator.