Generation of noise-like pulses and soliton rains in a graphene mode-locked erbium-doped fiber ring laser

We demonstrate the generation of noise-like pulses (NLPs) and soliton rains in a graphene saturable absorber mode-locked erbium-doped fiber laser. Typical NLPs are obtained at a proper pump power and in a cavity polarization state. The soliton rain operation with multiple solitons can be achieved by finely adjusting the cavity polarization state. In addition, distinctive multi-soliton interactions are observed and investigated, including the fundamental mode-locking and multiple pulses. The experimental results can help further understand nonlinear pulse dynamics in ultrafast optics.