Vector dark domain wall solitons in a fiber ring laser

We observe a novel type of vector dark soliton in a fiber ring laser. The vector dark soliton consists of stable localized structures separating the two orthogonal linear polarization eigenstates of the laser emission and is visible only when the total laser emission is measured. Numerical simulations based on the coupled complex Ginzburg-Landau equations have well reproduced the results of the experimental observation. (C) 2010 Optical Society of America