Generation of vector dark soliton trains by induced modulational instability in a highly birefringent fiber

We present a set of experimental observations that demonstrate the generation of vector trains of dark-soliton pulses in the orthogonal axes of a highly birefringent optical fiber. We generated dark-soliton trains with terahertz repetition rate in the normal group-velocity dispersion regime by inducing a polarization modulational instability by mixing two intense, orthogonal continuous laser beams. Numerical solutions of the propagation equations were used to optimize the emission of vector dark pulses at the fiber output. © 1999 Optical Society of America.