Temporal-filtering dissipative soliton in an optical parametric oscillator

Hui Tong,Guoqiang Xie,Zhipeng Qin,Liejia Qian,Fuyong Wang

doi:10.1017/hpl.2022.6

Abstract

Abstract Dissipative solitons have been realized in mode-locked fiber lasers in the theoretical framework of the Ginzburg–Landau equation and have significantly improved the pulse energy and peak power levels of such lasers. It is interesting to explore whether dissipative solitons exist in optical parametric oscillators in the framework of three-wave coupling equations in order to substantially increase the performance of optical parametric oscillators. Here, we demonstrate a temporal-filtering dissipative soliton in a synchronously pumped optical parametric oscillator. The temporal-gain filtering of the pump pulse combined with strong cascading nonlinearity and dispersion in the optical parametric oscillator enables the generation of a broad spectrum with a nearly linear chirp; consequently, a significantly compressed pulse and high peak power can be realized after dechirping outside the cavity. Furthermore, we realized, for the first time, dissipative solitons in an optical system with a negative nonlinear phase shift and anomalous dispersion, extending the parameter region of dissipative solitons. The findings may open a new research block for dissipative solitons and provide new opportunities for mid-infrared ultrafast science.

Highlights

Dissipative solitons are localized wavepackets of an electromagnetic field that are balanced through an energy exchange with the environment while nonlinearity and dispersion are involved[1]
We found that the formation of temporal-filtering dissipative solitons in Optical parametric oscillators (OPOs) relies on the interplay between the parametric gain, temporalfiltering loss, dispersion and nonlinearity in the cavity
A temporal-filtering dissipative soliton is demonstrated in an OPO in the framework of three-wave coupling equations

Summary

Introduction

Dissipative solitons are localized wavepackets of an electromagnetic field that are balanced through an energy exchange with the environment while nonlinearity and dispersion are involved[1]. In the theoretical framework of the Ginzburg– Landau equation, dissipative solitons have been realized in mode-locked lasers and have significantly improved the pulse energy and peak power levels of ultrashort pulse fiber lasers[1–15]. The formation of dissipative solitons in mode-locked fiber lasers is the result of a dynamic balance between the gain and spectral filtering loss with the interactions of dispersion and nonlinearity[1]. Spectra with steep edges were observed in a normal-dispersion fiber OPO[36] and a normal-dispersion fiber-feedback OPO[37], respectively These works laid the foundation for the observation of dissipative solitons in OPOs. In this study, we demonstrate that a temporal-filtering dissipative soliton can be formed in an OPO. When the system parameters in the OPO cavity enter a certain region, the temporal-gain-filtering effect of the pump pulse leads to the formation of a dissipative soliton with a broad spectrum and a nearly linear chirp. We demonstrate that temporal-filtering dissipative solitons can be formed in the normal-dispersion region with positive nonlinearity, and in an anomalous-dispersion region with negative nonlinearity, which expands the parameter space in which the dissipative solitons exist

Theoretical model of temporal-filtering dissipative soliton

Experimental demonstration of a temporal-filtering dissipative soliton

Formation conditions for a temporal-filtering dissipative soliton

Findings

Conclusion