A topical review of numerical and experimental studies of supercontinuum generation in photonic crystal fiber is presented over the full range of experimentally reported parameters, from the femtosecond to the continuous-wave regime. Results from numerical simulations are used to discuss the temporal and spectral characteristics of the supercontinuum, and to interpret the physics of the underlying spectral broadening processes. Particular attention is given to the case of supercontinuum generation seeded by femtosecond pulses in the anomalous group velocity dispersion regime of photonic crystal fiber, where the processes of soliton fission, stimulated Raman scattering, and dispersive wave generation are reviewed in detail. The corresponding intensity and phase stability properties of the supercontinuum spectra generated under different conditions are also discussed.

Supercontinuum generation in photonic crystal fiber

The authors derive a single-wave equation which describes transient stimulated Raman scattering in optical fibers. The equation is valid for forward traveling waves whose bandwidths are less than approximately=1/3 the carrier frequency. It correctly conserves a classical photon number and not the total optical energy as is appropriate for Raman scattering problems. From this equation, the authors derive a formula for the small-signal gain spectrum which includes the effects of Raman scattering, four-wave mixing, and modulational instabilities. Examples of numerical integrations are given which show the generation of short soliton pulses from the nonlinear evolution of a noise band around a continuous wave pump. >

Theoretical description of transient stimulated Raman scattering in optical fibers

Wave collapse in physics: principles and applications to light and plasma waves

A theory based on the Kukhtarev–Vinetskii model is developed that provides the evolution equation of one-dimensional optical spatial solitons in photorefractive media. In the steady-state regime and under appropriate external bias conditions, our analysis indicates that the underlying wave equation can exhibit bright and dark as well as gray spatial soliton states. The characteristics of these self-trapped optical beams are discussed in detail.

Bright, dark, and gray spatial soliton states in photorefractive media

The investigation of nonlinear wave phenomena has been one of the main direc tions of research in optics for the last few decades. Soliton concepts applied to the description of intense electromagnetic beams and ultrashort pulse propagation in various media have contributed much to this field. The notion of solitons has proved to be very useful in describing wave processes in hydrodynamics, plasma physics and condensed matter physics. Moreover, it is also of great importance in optics for ultrafast information transmission and storage, radiation propagation in resonant media, etc. In 1973, Hasegawa and Tappert made a significant contribution to optical soliton physics when they predicted the existence of an envelope soliton in the regime of short pulses in optical fibres. In 1980, Mollenauer et al. conducted ex periments to elucidate this phenomenon. Since then the theory of optical solitons as well as their experimental investigation has progressed rapidly. The effects of inhomogeneities of the medium and energy pumping on optical solitons, the interaction between optical solitons and their generation in fibres, etc. have all been investigated and reported. Logical devices using optical solitons have been developed; new types of optical solitons in media with Kerr-type nonlinearity and in resonant media have been described.

Optical Solitons

We derive the nonlinear wave equation for an envelope of an electromagnetic wave in a monomode dielectric waveguide. Concrete examples are given for a single-mode optical fiber where the coefficients of resultant nonlinear Schrodinger equation with higher-order dispersion and dissipation (both linear and nonlinear) are given in terms of properties of the eigenfunction of the guided wave as well as of the material nonlinearity and dispersion. Using a newly-developed perturbation method, we show that the higher-order dispersions (linear and nonlinear) perserve the profile of a single soliton but to split up a bound N soliton ( N \geq 2 ) into individual solitons with different heights which propagate at different velocities. We also show that the higher-order nonlinear dissipation due to the induced Raman effect downshifts the carrier frequency of a single soliton in proportion to the distance of propagation and to the fourth power of the soliton amplitude.

A. Hasegawa

Papers

Nonlinear pulse propagation in a monomode dielectric guide