Trapping of light in solitonic cavities and its role in the supercontinuum generation

We demonstrate that the fission of higher-order N-solitons with a subsequent ejection of fundamental quasi-solitons creates solitonic cavities, formed by a pair of solitons with dispersive light trapped between them. As a result of multiple reflections of the trapped light from the bounding solitons which act as mirrors, they bend their trajectories and collide. In the spectral-domain, the two solitons receive blue and red wavelength shifts, respectively. The spectrum of the bouncing trapped light alters as well. This phenomenon strongly affect spectral characteristics of the generated supercontinuum. Studies of the system's parameters, which are responsible for the creation of the cavities, reveal possibilities of predicting and controlling soliton-soliton collisions induced by multiple reflections of the trapped light.