Spatiotemporal soliton laser

Abstract

Spatiotemporal solitons (STSs) are waves that are localized in all three dimensions of space as well as in time. They are of interest intrinsically as well as for ultrafast optical information processing, but their experimental observation remains a major challenge in nonlinear science. Two decades of investigation of STSs in optics has yielded only a few experimental demonstrations in conservative media. We present the realistic design and modeling of a solid-state laser that depends on the formation of dissipative STSs, which balance nonlinear gain and loss as well as linear and nonlinear phases. Numerical calculations show that stable, three-dimensional solitons can form in lasers containing self-focusing nonlinear materials with large normal dispersion. Experimental realization will be challenging but appears to be technologically achievable.