Switching and transformation of multi-state solitons in a slightly normal dispersion mode-locked fiber laser

Passively mode locked fiber lasers are excellent platforms for soliton generation. Here, multi -state switchable behaviors in a slightly normal dispersion mode-locked fiber laser are experimentally demonstrated with an identical configuration. A saturable absorber based on single-wall carbon nanotube is served as mode-locking device and an intrinsic birefringence spectral filtering is employed as a tunable inline filter. Consequently, with properly modifying pumping powers and orientations of polarization controller paddles, the operation regimes of the proposed laser could be reversibly switched between dissipative solitons and amplifier similaritons, and the characteristics of intermediate states are recorded. Tunable dissipative solitons with a tuning range of 38 nm and noise-like pulses could also alternatively be generated. This multi -state behavior switching could be attributed to the strong filtering caused by the limited gain bandwidth under strong pump strength. The experimental observations of these multi -state switchable transitions may offer insight into the pulse regime dynamics in the near -zero dispersion region and offer flexibility in multi-functional designs of the laser configuration, which would enable innovations in nonlinear optics and its applications.