Theory of self-induced transparency in a Kerr host medium beyond the slowly-varying-envelope approximation.

Abstract

The self-induced transparency in the Kerr host medium has been studied beyond the slowly-varying-envelope approximation. An analytic solution is obtained. There exists a hyperbolic-secant soliton whose power, pulse width, group velocity, and propagation constant are uniquely determined for given parameters of the medium. The reductions of the group velocities of the solitons by the self-induced-transparency effect in the resonant medium with homogeneous and inhomogeneous broadening are also studied. It is found that there is negative dispersion induced by the self-induced transparency, which is not predicted by the theory with the slowly-varying-envelope approximation. The amount of the induced dispersion is determined by the total dispersion of the system required to be compensated by the Kerr effect. Numerical examples of the self-induced transparency in an erbium-doped fiber are shown. In a typical erbium-doped fiber, the soliton solution has not been found because the inhomogeneous-broadening linewidth of the medium is too large.