title: Chirped pulse formation dynamics in ultra-long mode-locked fiber lasers.
abstract: By modeling giant chirped pulse formation in ultra-long, normally dispersive, mode-locked fiber lasers, we verify convergence to a steady-state consisting of highly chirped and coherent, nanosecond-scale pulses, which is in good agreement with recent experimental results. Numerical investigation of the transient dynamics reveals the existence of dark soliton-like structures within the envelope of the initial noisy pulse structure. Quasi-stationary dark solitons can persist throughout a large part of the evolution from noise to a stable dissipative soliton solution of the mode-locked laser cavity.
authors.forename: E J R
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Kelleher
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Travers