Optical pulse doublet resulting from the nonlinear splitting of a super-Gaussian pulse

Abstract: We experimentally demonstrate the generation of a temporal pulse doublet from the propagation of an initial super-Gaussian waveform in a nonlinear focusing medium. The picosecond structures are characterized both in amplitude and phase and their close-to-Gaussian Fourier-transform limited shape is found in excellent agreement with numerical simulations. This nonlinear fiber-based single-stage reshaping scheme is energy efficient, can sustain GHz repetition rates and temporal compression factors around 10 are demonstrated.