Abstract

Four-wave mixing (FWM) in a fiber is a nonlinear effect likely to impose severe restrictions on transmitted powers and channel spacing in optical frequency-division multiplexed (FDM) systems [1,2,3], hence limiting their information capacity. As a result of FWM waves at different frequencies can interact causing an inter-channel cross-talk. The efficiency of FWM is strongly dependent on the difference of phase velocities (phase-mismatch) between the interacting waves [4]. Therefore, it will mainly play a role in dispersion shifted (DS) fibres and for densely spaced channels as are possible in coherent systems.

© 1991 Optical Society of America