Experimentally characterized nonlinear fourier transform of a mode-locked fibre laser

Summary form only given. Fibre lasers are known to provide a rich tapestry of operational regimes, which can be attributed to the nonlinear nature of light dynamics in optical fibre at high powers, and the multidimensional system parameter space. Given their inherent complexity, identifying and discerning the underlying physical processes that gives rise to them still remains a formidable challenge. Here, for the first time in experiment, we show how the Nonlinear Fourier Transform (NFT) (see e.g. [1-3] and references therein) can be used as an effective tool for the identification and classification of lasing regimes. The NFT provides a framework for identification of coherent structures (nonlinear multi-soliton modes) embedded into dispersive radiation [2, 3].