Spatiotemporal solitons in dispersion-managed multimode fibers

Abstract

Abstract We develop the scheme of dispersion management (DM) for three-dimensional (3D) solitons in a multimode optical fiber. It is modeled by the parabolic confining potential acting in the transverse plane in combination with the cubic self-focusing. The DM map is adopted in the form of alternating segments with anomalous and normal group-velocity dispersion. Previously, temporal DM solitons were studied in detail in single-mode fibers, and some solutions for 2D spatiotemporal ‘light bullets’, stabilized by DM, were found in the model of a planar waveguide. By means of numerical methods, we demonstrate that stability of the 3D spatiotemporal solitons is determined by the usual DM-strength parameter, S: they are quasi-stable at S < S 0 ≈ 0.93 , and completely stable at S > S 0 . Stable vortex solitons are constructed too. We also consider collisions between the 3D solitons, in both axial and transverse directions. The interactions are quasi-elastic, including periodic collisions between solitons which perform shuttle motion in the transverse plane.