Observation of Spatio-temporal Instability of Femtosecond Pulses in Normal Dispersion Multimode Graded-Index Fiber

Abstract: We study the spatio-temporal instability generated by a universal unstable attractor in normal dispersion graded-index multimode fiber (GRIN MMF) for femtosecond pulses. Our results present the generation of geometric parametric instability (GPI) sidebands with ultrashort input pulse for the first time. Observed GPI sidebands are 91 THz detuned from the pump wavelength, 800 nm. Detailed analysis carried out numerically by employing coupled-mode pulse propagation model including optical shock and Raman nonlinearity terms. A simplified theoretical model and numerically calculated spectra are well-aligned with experimental results. For input pulses of 200-fs duration, formation and evolution of GPI are shown in both spatial and temporal domains. The spatial intensity distribution of the total field and GPI sidebands are calculated. Numerically and experimentally obtained beam shapes of first GPI features a Gaussian-like beam profile. Our numerical results verify the unique feature of GPI and generated sidebands preserve their inherited spatial intensity profile from the input pulse for different propagation distances particularly for focused and spread the total field inside the GRIN MMF.