The evolution of short optical pulses towards a self-similar parabolic intensity profile in normally dispersive nonlinear fiber optic amplifiers can be described with good accuracy by means of a simple analytical model. This approach enables the evaluation of the optimal input pulse time duration and chirp for decreasing the distance of convergence towards the asymptotic regime. We show that pulse spectral broadening in dispersive nonlinear fiber amplifiers may be enhanced by introducing a suitable dispersion tapering. We obtain an analytical dispersion profile which permits to reduce pulse propagation in a varying dispersion fiber to the case of an equivalent fiber with constant parameters.

Date Published: 8 May 2007
PDF: 12 pages
Proc. SPIE 6582, Nonlinear Optics and Applications II, 65820A (8 May 2007); doi: 10.1117/12.721559

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 6582:
Nonlinear Optics and Applications II
Mario Bertolotti, Editor(s)