Period-doubling Bifurcation to Chaos in a Pure-Sextic Soliton Fiber Laser

We numerically investigate the dynamics of period-doubling bifurcation to chaos in a pure-sextic soliton (PSS) fiber laser dominated by sixth-order dispersion (SOD). By properly setting the cavity parameters, i.e., pump power and SOD amount, it is found that the PSS experiences multiple bifurcations before entering into chaos. The imperfect balance of SOD and self-phase modulation (SPM) provides a new scenario of period-doubling bifurcation dynamics that PSS exhibits the dynamical energy redistribution between the main lobe and the oscillating tails. In particular, a critical state that the PSS evolves spontaneously between the period-doubling bifurcation and chaos has also been demonstrated. These findings will give new insights into the period-doubling bifurcation dynamics as well as chaos in dissipative optical systems.