Abstract

We report the observation of extreme narrowing (to as little as ¹/₃₀ the initial pulse width) in various lengths of single-mode low-loss optical fiber in the conditions of high input power (high with respect to that required for the fundamental soliton¹), short fibers (short relative to the soliton period²), and λ ≅ 1.5 μm Such narrowing represents a very simple and practical way of attaining subpicosecond pulses in the wavelength range (λ ≳ 1.3 μm) of soliton effects with the following outstanding features: (1) only the fiber and no auxiliary dispersive elements are required; (2) a large fraction (80% ≲ f ≲ 25%) of the input energy appears in the narrowed output pulses; (3) pulse energies are in the nanojoule range.

© 1983 Optical Society of America