Perturbation of higher-order solitons by fourth-order dispersion in optical fibers

Abstract

We study analytically and numerically how the radiation emitted by fundamental solitons in the form of dispersive waves is affected by the third and fourth-order dispersions when a higher-order soliton undergoes the fission process inside an optical fiber. Our results show that two dispersive wave sidebands appear in the output spectrum on opposite sides of the input spectrum. The frequencies of these sidebands are set by the relative magnitudes of the third- and fourth-order dispersion parameters, but are not affected much by the Raman process. A well defined phase-matching condition accurately predicts these conjugate frequencies of dispersive wave. The relative amplitudes of these two sidebands are not equal because of the asymmetry induced by the third-order dispersion and higher-order nonlinearities. It is found that with increasing fourth-order dispersion the amplitude of both spectral components eventually saturate and the relative power level associated with one of the components can exceed 10% of the launched power under suitable conditions. This component is the one that will form even in the absence of fourth-order dispersion and its wavelength may lie on the red or the blue side of the launched wavelength depending on the sign of the dispersion slope at this wavelength. It is also observed that soliton order itself significantly influence the peak amplitude of the radiation and play a minor role in determining radiation frequencies. We believe, these results should be of relevance for applications requiring an ultrabroadband optical source and understanding the interesting facts of supercontinuum generation.