Nonlinear pulse propagation in the neighborhood of the zero dispersion wavelength of single-mode fibers

Hasegawa and Tappert1 have proposed using the nonlinear properties of a single-mods optical fiber to compensate the pulse-broadening dispersive effect to achieve transmission rates of the order of several Gbit/s. The evolution of the pulse envelope, neglecting losses and third-order dispersion, is governed by the nonlinear Schroedinger equation. This equation2 possesses a special class of pulse-like solutions (envelope) solitons. Among them, the fundamental soliton and breath- ers (bound states of solitons) are prime candidates for an optical communication system. The pulse shape of fundamental solitons remains unchanged throughout propagation, while that of breathers undergoes periodic contraction and splitting.