Real-time arbitrary manipulation of soliton molecule spectra by a phase-modulated Mach-Zehnder interferometer

Abstract

Arbitrary manipulation of soliton molecule spectra constantly remains an extreme challenge in experiments. Here, we present a method for the real-time arbitrary manipulation of the soliton molecule spectra using a dynamically controllable Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI). Specifically, the relative phase and temporal separation of the soliton molecule can be simultaneously regulated through the integration of a phase modulator into one arm of the MZI. By programming the radio frequency signal to drive the phase modulator, we obtain various patterns of spectral oscillations. We further achieve arbitrary manipulation of the center wavelength at extremely small soliton separations. Our proposed experimental scheme successfully creates soliton molecules with preset temporal separations and relative phases, which provides a robust and effective method for the real-time arbitrary manipulation of soliton molecule.