Real-time multispeckle spectral-temporal measurement unveils the complexity of spatiotemporal solitons

The dynamics of three-dimensional (3D) dissipative solitons originated from spatiotemporal interactions share many common characteristics with other multi-dimensional phenomena. Unveiling the dynamics of 3D solitons thus permits new routes for tackling multidisciplinary nonlinear problems and exploiting their instabilities. However, this remains an open challenge, as they are multi-dimensional, stochastic and non-repeatable. Here, we report the real-time speckle-resolved spectral-temporal dynamics of a 3D soliton laser using a single-shot multispeckle spectral-temporal technology that leverages optical time division multiplexing and photonic time stretch. This technology enables the simultaneous observation on multiple speckle grains to provide long-lasting evolutionary dynamics on the planes of cavity time (t) – roundtrip and spectrum (λ) – roundtrip. Various non-repeatable speckly-diverse spectral-temporal dynamics are discovered in both the early and established stages of the 3D soliton formation. Observing 3D dissipative solitons is very challenging since their formation is stochastically and not repeatable. Here, the authors report the real-time multispeckle spectral-temporal observation of dissipative solitons in an optical fiber and analyze their long term evolution.