Self-Frequency Shift in Transmission of Asymmetric Pulse in Optical Medium

Abstract

Linear and nonlinear effects often induce a pulse self-frequency shift as it propagates along with an optical medium. Here, we theoretically investigate the transmission dynamics of asymmetric pulses propagating along with an optical medium in the temporal and spectral domains. Due to the asymmetric nonlinear phase-shift effect in the optical medium, the peak wavelength of asymmetric pulses exhibits a redshift or a blueshift in the spectral domain, while it slows down or speeds up in the temporal domain. Our results show that the peak wavelength shift initiated by a temporal or spectral asymmetric pulse depends not only on the pulse intensity, but also on the initial pulse chirp and dispersion of optical medium. We find that the peak wavelength shift of the asymmetric pulse increases with the pulse intensity and the initial pulse chirp, together with the spectrum width. The temporal and frequency shifts of the asymmetric pulses are found to be sensitive to the asymmetry ratio as well. These excellent properties may lead to the realization of a self-frequency shift-based tunable light source by launching asymmetric pulses into an optical medium.