A dispersion-tapered reflection soliton oscillator

Abstract

This paper presents the first demonstration of a dispersion-tapered reflection soliton oscillator (RS0). Prior soliton oscillators have relied on uniform nonlinear transmission lines (NLTLs) to self-generate electrical solitons. In this work we show that the stabilizing mechanisms for uniform NLTL soliton oscillators are sufficient to stabilize and self generate solitons using a dispersion-tapered NLTL. Moreover, we show that the dispersion-tapered NLTL provides a significant benefit in further sharpening the soliton pulses in the soliton oscillator. Through two experimental prototypes we demonstrate a 40 % difference in pulse width between the uniform NLTL RSO and the dispersion-tapered RSO introduced in this paper.