Wavelength-Tunable L-Band High Repetition Rate Erbium-Doped Fiber Laser Based on Dissipative Four-Wave Mixing

A wavelength-tunable high repetition rate (HRR) erbium-doped fiber laser in L-band based on dissipative four-wave mixing (DFWM) mechanism is demonstrated. The cavity can generate a single-soliton train and bound-soliton train with a fixed repetition rate of ~126 GHz, which is determined by the free spectral range of the intra-cavity Lyot filter. A wide wavelength-tuning operation can also be obtained by rotating the polarization controllers. The wavelength-tuning ranges of the HRR single-soliton state and HRR bound-soliton state are ~38.3 nm and ~22.6 nm, respectively. This laser provides useful references for the area of a wavelength-tunable fiber laser with high repetition rate. The laser may also find useful applications in high-speed communication, sensing, etc.

Synthesized soliton crystals

Dissipative Kerr soliton (DKS) featuring broadband coherent frequency comb with compact size and low power consumption, provides an unparalleled tool for nonlinear physics investigation and precise measurement applications. However, the complex nonlinear dynamics generally leads to stochastic soliton formation process and makes it highly challenging to manipulate soliton number and temporal distribution in the microcavity. Here, synthesized and reconfigurable soliton crystals (SCs) are demonstrated by constructing a periodic intra-cavity potential field, which allows deterministic SCs synthesis with soliton numbers from 1 to 32 in a monolithic integrated microcavity. The ordered temporal distribution coherently enhanced the soliton crystal comb lines power up to 3 orders of magnitude in comparison to the single-soliton state. The interaction between the traveling potential field and the soliton crystals creates periodic forces on soliton and results in forced soliton oscillation. Our work paves the way to effectively manipulate cavity solitons. The demonstrated synthesized SCs offer reconfigurable temporal and spectral profiles, which provide compelling advantages for practical applications such as photonic radar, satellite communication and radio-frequency filter.

Relative Intensity Noise of Hybrid Mode-Locked Bound Soliton Fiber Laser: Theory and Experiment

Relative intensity noises (RIN) of mode-locked lasers are properties which are crucial for applications. In the literature, there have been plenty of theoretical/experimental studies on the RIN noises of passive/active single-pulse mode-locked lasers. Since some mode-locked lasers can also be operated under the bound-pulse mode-locking state, it is thus very interesting to further examine the RIN properties under bound-pulse mode-locking, and to verify if there are possibilities for RIN noise reduction as predicted by some previous theoretical works. The conventional analytical formula based on the soliton perturbation theory can no longer be applied due to the pulse shape complexity for the bound-pulse mode-locking cases. New theoretical tools for modelling general mode-locked lasers are eagerly awaited. In the present work, the RIN noises of an environmentally stable 10 GHz hybrid mode-locked Er-doped fiber laser capable of bound-soliton generation are experimentally investigated, and a novel theoretical method based on the linearized backpropagation approach is theoretically developed for calculating the RIN noise spectra of general mode-locked lasers. Both the theoretical and experimental results demonstrate that the RIN noise of the bound-soliton state can be lower than that of the single-soliton state by following the laser power scaling tendency.

Multifaceted properties of Andreev bound states: interplay of symmetry and topology

Andreev bound states (ABSs) ubiquitously emerge as a consequence of non-trivial topological structures of the order parameter of superfluids and superconductors and significantly contribute to thermodynamics and low-energy quantum transport phenomena. We here share the current status of our knowledge on their multifaceted properties such as Majorana fermions and odd-frequency pairing. A unified concept behind ABSs originates from a soliton state in the one-dimensional Dirac equation with mass domain wall and interplay of ABSs with symmetry and topology enrich their physical characteristics. We make an overview of ABSs with a special focus on superfluid 3 He. The quantum liquid confined to restricted geometries serves as a rich repository of noteworthy quantum phenomena, such as the mass acquisition of Majorana fermions driven by spontaneous symmetry breaking, topological quantum criticality, Weyl superfluidity and the anomalous magnetic response. The marriage of the superfluid 3 He and nano-fabrication techniques will take one to a new horizon of topological quantum phenomena associated with ABSs. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Andreev bound states’.

A sine-Gordon soliton star model with a mix of dark energy and Fermi matter 1Project Supported by Natural Science Foundation of Sichuan Education Committee under Grant No.11ZA100.

A sine-Gordon soliton star model with a mix of dark energy and Fermi matter is studied in the two-dimensional Brans–Dicke gravity model. The phase structure is analysed for a strong-coupling Thirring model. Subsequently, a soliton star model with cool Fermi matter coupling is constructed. We found that the soliton state and the mass of a star can change the density and pressure of matter at certain temperatures. Moreover, the stability of dark energy in the center of a star is proved when the coupling coefficient of the scalar field and Fermi matter satisfies some constraint conditions.