Abstract

Transmission of picosecond and subpicosecond optical pulses in single-mode fibers is severely limited by distortion due to chromatic dispersion. Several strategies based on dispersion compensation have been employed to overcome this limitation. Second-order dispersion, for example, can be eliminated by operating at the minimum dispersion wavelength. Also, a grating compressor can be used for linear dispersion compensation.¹ In soliton propagation, self-phase modulation due to the nonlinear index of refraction compensates for second-order dispersion at well defined optical powers.² Each of these approaches faces limits imposed by third-order dispersion when the pulse width is reduced to 1 ps or less.³

© 1990 Optical Society of America