Abstract

Solitons can be collapsed into pairs of pulses which are broad and weak, if simultaneously launched with low-intensity solitons. We describe soliton collapse and associated phenomena via numerical solutions of the nonlinear Schrodinger equation, and present the results of experimental investigations. When two optical solitons are simultaneously launched into a fiber, they under-go phase-dependent interactions which can either lead to the formation of single pulses (fusion) or to the emergence of two different pulses with phase-dependent velocity differences (steering). This has been numerically and experimentally demonstrated for two equal-amplitude N = 1 solitons,¹ and also occurs when the soliton amplitudes are considerably different, in which case steering leads to pairs of broad, very low intensity pulses (collapse). As a consequence, the phase of small control pulses can be used either to collapse much larger solitons or to frustrate that collapse.

© 1991 Optical Society of America