Generation and vector features of pulsating dissipative-soliton-resonance pulses in a figure-of-eight fiber laser

Pulsation, as one of the most distinctive nonlinear phenomena, exists in versatile fields. Pulsating solitons in dissipative optical systems have received considerable research interest due to their wealthy nonlinear dynamics and potential applications. Here, we demonstrate the generation of pulsating vector dissipative-soliton-resonance (DSR) pulses in an ytterbium-doped fiber laser based on a nonlinear amplifying loop mirror, for the first time. By decreasing the pump power, the stationary DSR pulse in the cavity could evolve into the pulsating DSR one, which undergoes periodic variations in its width and energy. In contrast to the conventional pulsating behavior with pulse peak power modulation, the pulsating DSR pulse maintains its peak power unchanged due to the strong peak-power-clamping effect. By utilizing a high-speed oscilloscope, the single-shot polarization-resolved temporal evolution of pulsating vector DSR pulses is monitored. By appropriately adjusting the net cavity birefringence through the intra-cavity polarization controllers, two types of pulsating vector DSR pulses, including the pulsating group-velocity-locked DSR (GVL-DSR) and pulsating polarization-locked DSR (PL-DSR) states, are achieved in the laser cavity. It is found that the two orthogonally polarized components have synchronized pulsating behaviors, but their central wavelengths can be the same or different. Our results would shed new light on the dynamics of DSR pulses.

Automated summary

We demonstrate the generation of pulsating vector dissipative-soliton-resonance (DSR) pulses in an ytterbium-doped fiber laser for the first time. By decreasing the pump power, the stationary DSR pulse can evolve into a pulsating one, with periodic variations in its width and energy. Unlike conventional pulsating behavior, the peak power of the pulsating DSR pulse remains unchanged due to the strong peak-power-clamping effect.