Abstract

Four wave mixing interactions between two pump waves and multiple sidebands in a single mode fiber are investigated. Two tunable dye lasers are used to generate pump waves that are input into a polarization maintaining fiber. A video camera interfaced to a spectrometer allows us to study both single shot and averaged spectra at the fiber output. Predictions from the nonlinear Schrödinger equation with dual frequency input are compared with those from a simplified model of wave propagation that employs ordinary differential equations (ODEs) and assumes monochromatic waves. In particular, we study a conservation relation that was discovered in the ODE model and examine its validity for different experimental regimes. Analytic approximations, numerical solutions, and experimental observations are compared for various values of detuning and power of the input pump waves.

© 1992 Optical Society of America