Parabolic similaritons in optical fibres
Résumé
Recent developments in nonlinear optics have brought to the fore of intensive research an interesting class of pulses with a parabolic intensity prole and a linear instantaneous frequency shift or chirp [1, 2]. Parabolic pulses propagate in optical bres with normal group-velocity dispersion in a self-similar manner, holding certain relations (scaling) between pulse power, duration and chirp parameter, and can tolerate strong nonlinearity without distortion or wave breaking. These solutions, which have been dubbed similaritons, were demonstrated theoretically and experimentally in ber ampliers in 2000. Similaritons in ber ampliers are, along with solitons in passive bres, the most well-known classes of nonlinear attractors for pulse propagation in optical fibre, so they take on major fundamental importance. The unique properties of parabolic similaritons have stimulated numerous applications in nonlinear optics, ranging from ultrashort high-power pulse generation to highly coherent continuum sources and to optical nonlinear processing of telecommunication signals.
In this talk, we review the physics underlying the generation of parabolic similaritons as well as recent results obtained in a wide range of experimental congurations.