Abstract

Ultralong-distance optical communication by soldons in optical fibers requires amplification to compensate losses incurred during propagation, Even an ideal laser amplifier (nearly realized by erbium amplifiers) is accompanied by excess spontaneous emission noise. Because of the Kerr nonlinearity of the fiber, this noise gives rise to a random walk of the soliton frequency, which in turn, is translated into a jitter in the soliton arrival time (timing jitter) through group-velocity dispersion of the fiber.

© 1994 Optical Society of America