Abstract

Generally, it has been assumed that the non-resonant electronic response is the origin of the intensity-dependent refractive index in silica fibers. However, electrostriction has recently been shown to be the source of long range soliton interactions¹ through a time-dependent refractive index change. Additionally, recent experimental work has identified a discrepancy between cw cross-phase-modulation (XPM) measurements of the nonlinear refractive index and measurements made using self-phase-modulation (SPM) of 100 ps modelocked pulses². In the present work we identify electrostriction as the origin of this discrepancy and demonstrate that electrostriction makes a significant time-dependent contribution to nonlinear refraction in optical fibers.

© 1996 Optical Society of America