High-repetition-rate soliton-train generation

We propose a high-repetition-rate soliton-train source based on adiabatic compression of a dual-frequency optical signal in nonuniform fiber Bragg gratings. As the signal propagates through the grating, it is reshaped into a train of Bragg solitons whose repetition rate is predetermined by the frequency of initial sinusoidal modulation. We develop an approximate analytical model to predict the width of compressed soliton-like pulses and to provide conditions for adiabatic compression. We demonstrate numerically the formation of a 40-GHz train of 2.6-ps pulses and find that the numerical results are in good agreement with the predictions of our analytical model. The scheme relies on the dispersion provided by the grating, which can be up to six orders of magnitude larger than of fiber and makes it possible to reduce the fiber length significantly.  1998 Optical Society of America OCIS codes: (270.5530) Pulse propagation and Solitons; (320.5520) Pulse compression; (350.2770) Gratings; (230.6080) Sources; (060.4370) Nonlinear optics, fibers. ____________________________________________________________________________________________ References and links 1. J. J. Veselka and S. K. Korotky, “Pulse generation for soliton systems using lithium niobate modulators,” IEEE J. Sel. Top. Quantum Electron. 2, 300-310 (1996). 2. A. Hasegawa, “Generation of a train of soliton pulses by induced modulational instability in optical fibers,” Opt. Lett. 9, 288-290 (1984). 3. K. Tai, A. Tomita, J. L. Jewell and A. Hasegawa, “Generation of subpicosecond solitonlike optical pulses at 0.3 THz repetition rate by induced modulational instability,” Appl. Phys. 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