Nonlinear Propagation in Fiber Gratings

Abstract

Exploration of nonlinear phenomena in photonic crystals began with simple one-dimensional photonic crystals in waveguides and glass fibers. Bragg gratings in silica fibers have been developed for many linear applications, for example for optical filters in wavelength division multiplexed optical communication systems. These high quality fiber Bragg gratings have been used to observe nonlinear propagation phenomena for the first time in photonic crystals [1,2]. Low linear and nonlinear losses along with high optical damage thresholds make these gratings ideal for studying nonlinear propagation effects. Nonlinear phenomena in these periodic dielectric structures include many of the phenomena in uniform dielectric media [3] including fiber solitons [4] and polarization instabilities [5]. Fiber Bragg gratings can be fabricated as shown in Fig. 8.1 with great precision and control over many parameters including the spatial dependence of the amplitude and phase of the grating.