Subsideband generation and modulational instability lasing in a fiber soliton laser

We experimentally observed two forms of subsideband generation in the soliton spectrum of a passively mode-locked fiber soliton ring laser. We found that the different forms of subsideband generation are related to the different strengths of the saturable absorption in the laser cavity. Analyzing featuring of the subsideband generations, we show that they are both modulational-instability lasings of the dispersive waves in the laser. (C) 2001 Optical Society of America.