Soliton-like pulses governed by fourth order dispersion in optical fibers

Abstract

Intense picosecond-pulses in optical fibers are well known to be described by the nonlinear Schrödinger (NLS) equation, which includes second order (group-velocity) dispersion, GVD. When studying ultrashort pulses, however, higher order dispersive terms must be taken into account. Specifically, at carrier frequencies of maximum (minimum) GVD, the extensively studied third order dispersion[1], vanishes, and the effects of negative (positive) fourth order dispersion, 4OD, become important.