PROPAGATION OF SHORT PULSES WITH FLUCTUATING PEAK POWER IN THE ZERO-DISPERSION WAVELENGTH REGION OF SINGLE-MODE FIBERS

We address the propagation properties of short, noisy pulses in the sp ectral vicinity of the zero-dispersion wavelength of single-mode fiber s. We present a numerical propagation model that includes amplitude fl uctuations by introducing a Gaussian statistical distribution of the p eak powers. Experiments that use as a source a figure-eight-shaped fib er laser terminated by various types and lengths of dispersion-shifted fiber confirm the calculated propagation properties. We demonstrate t he dependence on mean peak power, on noise, and on fiber length of the spectral and temporal evolutions of the propagating pulses. (C) 1997 Optical Society of America.