Abstract

The study of nonlinear effects in fibres and in particular solitons has, since the beginning of this decade, been productive in developing nonlinear physics as well as providing the expectation of benefits in optical communications. The primary reasons for this are the availability of low loss fibres and the development of powerful laser sources. The very fast nonlinearity of silica, although small, has enabled particularly novel nonlinear phenomena to be investigated and a number of experimental devices to be demonstated [1]. Of particular interest are effects which arise from the combination of nonlinearity and dispersion; a combination, which results in soliton generation in the negative group velocity dispersion. regime. The article presents a brief review of fundamental soliton properties and discusses their potential in nonlinear fibre devices.

© 1988 Optical Society of America