Ultrashort pulse breaking in optical fiber with third-order dispersion and quintic nonlinearity

Abstract

The optical wave breaking (OWB) characteristics in terms of the pulse shape, spectrum, and frequency chirp, in the normal dispersion regime of an optical fiber with both the third-order dispersion (TOD) and quintic nonlinearity (QN) are numerically calculated. The results show that the TOD causes the asymmetry of the temporal- and spectral-domain, and the chirp characteristics. The OWB generally appears near the pulse center and at the trailing edge of the pulse, instead of at the two edges of the pulse symmetrically in the case of no TOD. With the increase of distance, the relation of OWB to the TOD near the pulse center increases quickly, leading to the generation of ultra-short pulse trains, while the OWB resulting from the case of no TOD at the trailing edge of the pulse disappears gradually. In addition, the positive (negative) QN enhances (weakens) the chirp amount and the fine structures, thereby inducing the OWB phenomena to appear earlier (later). Thus, the TOD and the positive (negative) QN are beneficial (detrimental) to the OWB and the generation of ultra-short pulse trains.