Inter-resonance soliton generation and trapping

We show a new type of actively mode-locked fiber laser that, despite the 2.5-km-long cavity and the average group-velocity dispersion of -20 ps/sup 2//km, generates solitons with duration of 2/spl divide/4 ps, 1-GHz repetition rate and timing jitter of 0.7 ps. Such short solitons are generated in an inter-resonance condition that favors a highly stable propagation regime. Soliton duration and timing jitter are both controlled by the self-frequency-modulation due to the background radiation emitted by the solitons themselves.