Abstract

Optical amplifiers have made it possible to increase the length, speed, and number of WDM channels in optical-communication systems, apparently without limit, by simply increasing the transmitted optical power. This increasing power inevitably leads to optical nonlinearity and to various limits on system capacity. This tutorial will briefly review the nonlinear effects that can occur in silica fibers and will describe methods that have been demonstrated or considered to ameliorate their impact on lightwave-system performance.

© 1995 Optical Society of America