Six-bit all-optical quantization using photonic crystal fiber with soliton self-frequency shift and pre-chirp spectral compression techniques

In this paper, we propose an optical quantization scheme for all-optical analog-to-digital conversion that facilitates photonics integration. A segment of 10-m photonic crystal fiber with a high nonlinear coefficient of 62.8 W-1/kin is utilized to realize large scale soliton self-frequency shift relevant to the power of the sampled optical signal. Furthermore, a 100-m dispersion-increasing fiber is used as the spectral compression module for further resolution enhancement. Simulation results show that 317-nm maximum wavelength shift is realized with 1550-nm initial wavelength and 6-bit quantization resolution is obtained with a subsequent spectral compression process.

Periodic solitons in dispersion decreasing fibers with a cosine profile

Periodic solitons are studied in dispersion decreasing fibers with a cosine profile. The variable-coefficient nonlinear Schrrdinger equation, which can be used to describe the propagation of solitons, is investigated analytically. Analytic soli- ton solutions for this equation are derived with the Hirota＇s bilinear method. Using the soliton solutions, we obtain periodic solitons, and analyze the soliton characteristics. Influences of physical parameters on periodic solitons are discussed. The presented results can be used in optical communication systems and fiber lasers.

Broadband tunable Raman soliton self-frequency shift to mid-infrared band in a highly birefringent microstructure fiber

Raman soliton self-frequency shifted to mid-infrared band（λ 〉 2 μm） has been achieved in an air-silica microstructure fiber（MF）. The MF used in our experiment has an elliptical core with diameters of 1.08 and 2.48 μm for fast and slow axis. Numerical simulation shows that each fundamental orthogonal polarization mode has two wide-spaced λZDW and theλZDW pairs located at 701/2110 nm and 755/2498 nm along the fast and slow axis, respectively. Using 810-nm Ti：sapphire femtosecond laser as pump, when the output power varies from 0.3 to 0.5 W, the furthest red-shift Raman solitons in both fast and slow axis shift from near-infrared band to mid-infrared band, reaching as far as 2030 and 2261 nm. Also, midinfrared Raman solitons can always be generated for pump wavelength longer than 790 nm if output pump power reaches0.5 W. Specifically, with pump power at 0.5 W, the mid-infrared soliton in slow axis shifts from 2001 to 2261 nm when the pump changes from 790 nm to 810 nm. This means only a 20 nm change of pump results in 260 nm tunability of a mid-infrared soliton.

Fiber soliton-form 3R regenerator and its performance analysis

A novel fiber optical 3R regenerator based on optical soliton-effect using highly nonlinear fiber is constructed and investigated for the needs of the high rate and long-haul optical communications. The propagation equation of the pulses in the proposed optical 3R regenerator with the control of optical modulator and filter is established. By the use of the variational approach, the evolution of the distorted optical pulses in the regenerator and the functions of reamplification, reshaping, and reUming are investigated. The relation between the construction parameters and the output performance of the regenerator is discussed. The stable operation condition of the regenerator is revealed.

Generation of single and multiple dissipative soliton in an erbium-doped fiber laser

We experimentally report on the generation of single and multiple dissipative soliton via nonlinear polarization rotation technique. The spectrum of the mode-locked dissipative soliton exhibits typical steep edges with a flat top; the pulse duration is 10.07 ps. It is found that with the pump power increasing from 110 mW to 161 mW, the top of the mode-locked spectrum becomes flater and the 3-dB spectral bandwidth is broadened, which indicates that the gain-dispersion effect is lowered under stronger pump. However, the full bandwidth of the spectrum is narrowed, which proves that the spectral filter effect increases and overcomes the effect of self-phase modulation induced spectral broadening. Such a phenomenon was not noticed nor reported before. Our experiment also demonstrates that the pulse interval is highly dependent on the input pump power： with pump power increasing, the pulse interval tends towards more uniform. So our observation qualitatively analyzes the relationship between mode-locked pulse characteristics and input pump power.

Experimental Observation of Bright and Dark Solitons Mode-Locked with Zirconia-Based Erbium-Doped Fiber Laser

We demonstrate the generation of dark and bright solitons with our homemade zirconia-based erbium-doped fiber and graphene oxide（GO） saturable absorber in anomalous dispersion region.The GO is fabricated using an abridged Hummer＇s method,which is combined with polyethylene oxide to produce a composite film.The film is sandwiched between two optical ferrules and embedded in the laser cavity to enhance its birefringence and nonlinearity.The self-starting bright soliton is easily generated at pump power of 78 mW with the whole length cavity of 14.7 m.The laser produces the bright pulse train with repetition rate,pulse width,pulse energy and central wavelength being 13.9 MHz,0.6 ps,2.74 p J and 1577.46 nm,respectively.Then,by adding the 10 m of single mode fiber into the laser cavity,dark soliton pulse is produced.For the formation of dark pulse train,the measured repetition rate,pulse width,pulse energy and central wavelength are 8.3 MHz,20 ns and 4.98 p J and1596.82 nm,respectively.Both pulses operate in the anomalous region.

Soliton evolution and control in a two-mode fiber with two-photon absorption

Soliton dynamics are numerically investigated in a two-mode fiber with the two-photon absorption,and the effects of the two-photon absorption on the soliton propagation and interaction are demonstrated in different dispersion regimes.Soliton dynamics depend strictly on the sign and magnitude of the group velocity dispersion(GVD)coefficient of each mode and the strength(coefficient)of the two-photon absorption.The two-photon absorption leads to the soliton collapse,enhances the neighboring soliton interaction in both modes,and increases the energy exchange between the two modes.Finally,an available control is proposed to suppress the effects by the use of the nonlinear gain with filter.

Ultraviolet and mid-infrared continuum generation by cross-phase modulation between red-shifted solitons and blue-shifted dispersive waves in a photonic crystal fiber

Using a photonic crystal fiber with a zero dispersion wavelength of the fundamelItal mode at 780 nm designed and fabricated in our lab, the ultraviolet and mid-infrared continua are generated by cross-phase modulation between red-shift solitons and blue-shift dispersive waves. The dependences of continuum on the pump power and wavelength are investigated. With the pump working at 820 nm, when the pump power increases froul 300 to 500 mW, the bandwidths of ultraviolet and mid-infrared continua change from 80 to 140 nm and 100 to 200 nm, respectively. The wavelength of ultraviolet continuum is below 246 nm, and the wavelength of mid-infrared continuum exceeds 2500 nm. Moreover, the influences of pump power on wavelength and conversion efficiency of different parts of continua are also demonstrated.

Effective Soliton Fusion Process at the Advanced Stage of Supercontinuum Generation in Photonic Crystal Fibers

Soliton fusion is a fascinating and delicate phenomenon that manifests itself in optical fibers in case of interaction between co-propagating solitons with small temporal and wavelengths separation. The mechanism of graduate acceleration of trailing soliton by dispersive waves radiated from the preceding one provides necessary conditions for soliton fusion at the advanced stage of supercontinuum generation in photonic crystal fibers. As a result large intensity robust light structures can propagate over significant distances. In the spectral domain fusion-like processes result in development of a new significant band at the long wavelength side of the spectrum.

Ultrashort optical solitons in the dispersion-decreasing fibers

We derive analytical bright and dark solitons of the modified nonlinear Schroedinger equations with variable coefficients. Under constraint conditions between system parameters, the optical soliton transmission in the dispersiondecreasing fibers can be exactly controlled by proper dispersion management. The analytical description of the interactions between the bright and dark solitons are first obtained.

Optimizational 6-bit all-optical quantization with soliton self-frequency shift and pre-chirp spectral compression techniques based on photonic crystal fiber

In this paper, we optimize a proposed all-optical quantization scheme based on soliton self-frequency shift(SSFS)and pre-chirp spectral compression techniques. A 10m-long high-nonlinear photonic crystal fiber(PCF) is used as an SSFS medium relevant to the power of the sampled optical pulses. Furthermore, a 10m-long dispersion flattened hybrid cladding hexagonal-octagonal PCF(6/8-PCF) is utilized as a spectral compression medium to further enhance the resolution. Simulation results show that 6-bit quantization resolution is still obtained when a 100m-long dispersion-increasing fiber(DIF)is replaced by a 6/8-PCF in spectral compression module.

Asymmetric W-shaped and M-shaped soliton pulse generated from a weak modulation in an exponential dispersion decreasing fiber

We study localized waves on continuous wave background in an exponential dispersion decreasing fiber with two orthogonal polarization states. We demonstrate that asymmetric W-shaped and M-shaped soliton pulse can be generated from a weak modulation on continuous wave background. The numerical simulation results indicate that the generated asymmetric soliton pulses are robust against small noise or perturbation. In particular, the asymmetric degree of the asymmetric soliton pulse can be effectively controlled by changing the relative frequency of the two components. This character can be used to generate other nonlinear localized waves, such as dark-antidark and antidark-dark soliton pulse pair, symmetric W-shaped and M-shaped soliton pulse. Furthermore, we find that the asymmetric soliton pulse possesses an asymmetric discontinuous spectrum.

A Historical Narrative of Study of Fiber Grating Solitons

A brief historical narrative of the study of grating solitons in fiber Bragg grating is presented from the late 1970’s up to now. The formation of photogeneration gratings in optical fiber by sustained exposure of the core to the interference pattern produced by oppositely propagating modes of argon-ion laser radiation was first reported in 1978. One important nonlinear application of fiber Bragg grating is grating solitons, including gap soliton and Bragg soliton. This paper summarily introduces the numerous theoretical and experimental results on this field, each indicating the potential these solitons have in all-optical switching, pulse compression, limiting, and logic operations, and especially important for the optical communication systems.

Pulse-train nonuniformity in an all-fiber ring laser passively mode-locked by nonlinear polarization rotation

This paper reports the periodic power variation of the pulse-train in a passively mode-locked soliton fiber ring laser. It can obtain either the uniform or nonuniform pulse-train output by simply rotating the polarization controllers. The experimental results show that the pulse-train nonuniformity is caused by the interaction between the nonuniform polarization states of the soliton pulses and the passive polarizer in the cavity.

Highly efficient Cherenkov radiation generation in the irregular point of hollow-core photonic crystal fiber

Highly efficient Cherenkov radiation （CR） is generated by the soliton self-frequency shift （SSFS） in the irregular point of a hollow-core photonic crystal fiber （HC-PCF） in our laboratory. The impacts of pump power and wavelength on the CR are investigated, and the corresponding nonlinear processes are discussed. When the average power of the 120 fs pump pulse increases from 500 mW to 700 mW, the Raman soliton shifts from 2210 nm to 2360 nm, the output power of the CR increases by 2.3 times, the maximum output power ratio of the CR at 539 nm to that of the residual pump is calculated to be 24.32：1, the width of the output optical spectrum at the visible wavelength broadens from 35 nm to 62 nm, and the conversion efficiency η of the CR in the experiment can be above 32%.

Two-dimensional materials-decorated microfiber devices for pulse generation and shaping in fiber lasers

Two-dimensional（2D） materials have been regarded as a promising nonlinear optical medium for fabricating versatile optical and optoelectronic devices. Among the various photonic applications, the employment of 2D materials as nonlinear optical devices such as saturable absorbers for ultrashort pulse generation and shaping in ultrafast lasers is one of the most striking aspects in recent years. In this paper, we review the recent progress of 2D materials based pulse generation and soliton shaping in ultrafast fiber lasers, and particularly in the context of 2D materials-decorated microfiber photonic devices. The fabrication of 2D materials-decorated microfiber photonic devices, high performance mode-locked pulse generation, and the nonlinear soliton dynamics based on pulse shaping method are discussed. Finally, the challenges and the perspective of the 2D materials-based photonic devices as well as their applications are also discussed.

Effects of Periodically Inhomogeneous Birefringence on Dark-Bright Vector Soliton Propagation and Interaction

The effects of periodically inhomogeneous birefringence on dark-bright vector soliton propagation and interaction are investigated by the numerical method. The birefringence leads to the submergence of the dark soliton and the disintegration of the bright soliton, and enhances the interaction between the neighbouring solitons. The system performance is determined by the bright soliton because the dark soliton has robust features. Finally, the avoidance and the effective control are introduced, and the controlling mechanism is demonstrated.

A Novel Nanotube-Based Fiber Laser for Ultrashort Pulse Generation and Fast Measurements

We propose a nanotube-based erbium-doped fiber laser that can deliver conventional soliton (CS) and stretched pulse (SP) based on D-shaped fiber saturable absorber (DF-SA) where evanescent-field interaction works. The novel Nanotube-based Fiber Laser can generate SP or CS by tuning pump power and polarization controller (PC) properly. The net cavity dispersion of laser is slightly negative. In our experiment, by optimizing the PC in the cavity, CS and SP can be obtained at the central wavelengths of 1530.6 nm and 1530.3 nm due to on carbon nanotubes and the spectral filtering effect induced by nonlinear polarization rotation. Although the acquired CS and SP nearly have the same central wavelengths, they show distinct optical spectra, 3-dB bandwidths. The proposed fiber laser with switchable CS and SP is attractive for ultrashort pulse generation and fast measurements in practical applications.

Effects of Dissipative Terms on Dissipative Soliton Resonance Curve

Dissipative soliton resonance (DSR) is a phenomenon where the energy of a soliton in a dissipative system increases without limit at certain values of the system parameters. Using the method of collective variable approach, we have found an approximate relation between the parameters of the normalized complex cubic-quintic Ginzburg-Landau equation where the resonance manifests itself. Comparisons between the results obtained by collective variable approach, and those obtained by the method of moments show good qualitative agreement. This choice also helps to see the influence of the active terms on the resonance curve, so can be very useful in constructing passively mode-locked laser that generate solitons with the highest possible energies.

Code synchronization based on lumped time-delay compensation scheme with a linearly chirped fiber Bragg grating in all-optical analog-to-digital conversion

We propose a novel lumped time-delay compensation scheme for all-optical analog-to-digital conversion based on soliton self-frequency shift and optical interconnection techniques. A linearly chirped fiber Bragg grating is optimally designed and used to compensate for the entire time-delays of the quantized pulses precisely. Simulation results show that the compensated coding pulses are well synchronized with a time difference less than 3.3 ps, which can support a maximum sampling rate of 151.52 GSa/s. The proposed scheme can efficiently reduce the structure complexity and cost of all-optical analog-to-digital conversion compared to the previous schemes with multiple optical time-delay lines.