Experimental observation of transitions of different pulse solutions of the Ginzburg-Landau equation in a mode-locked fiber laser

Transitions between different kinds of soliton solutions of Ginzburg-Landau equation (GLE) have been studied experimentally in a mode-locked fiber laser. It is demonstrated that the different kinds of solitons corresponding to different solutions of GLE can be generated in a single mode-locked laser. Dispersion-managed solitons (DM), all-normal-dispersion solitons (ANDi) and similaritons can be emitted respectively depending on the parameter of the intensity of the light field and the birefringence effect. The three nonlinear waves show different features especially the spectrum shapes and dynamics accompanying with pump power scaling. Such phenomenon reveals the properties of GLE, which is not only scientifically interesting but also valuable to practical applications of mode-locked fiber lasers.