Vortex Soliton Molecules With Complex and Tunable Dynamics From a Femtosecond Solid‐State Oscillator

ABSTRACT Soliton molecules (SMs), a type of multi‐pulse mode‐locking phenomenon, have attracted significant attention for their potential in high‐capacity optical communication. Here, we report the generation of the vortex soliton molecules (VSMs) from a pure Kerr‐lens mode‐locked (KLM) solid‐state oscillator, with an average output power of ∼300 mW—two orders of magnitude higher than previously reported in fiber‐laser systems. Through real‐time TS‐DFT observation, we identified VSMs with varying pulse separations and demonstrated gain‐controlled dynamical transitions, including three distinct monotonic phase evolutions, periodic vibration, shaking, and composite coexistence states. Our work fills a critical gap in generating stable, high‐energy, and dynamically controllable VSMs in solid‐state oscillators, and paves the way for high‐dimensional, high‐capacity optical communication schemes utilizing VSMs encoding.