EXPERIMENTAL DEMONSTRATION OF SOLITON TRANSMISSION OVER 28 MM USING MOSTLY NORMAL DISPERSION FIBER

We report on stable soliton propagation experiments in a fiber transmi ssion system consisting of more than 90% normal dispersion fiber, The transmission system has a dispersion map much like that used in nonret urn-to-zero (NRZ) pulse transmission but with a path-average anomalous dispersion of +0.1 ps/nm-km. A stable soliton pulse train at 8 GHz ha s been observed after 28 Mm of propagation in a 108-km recirculating f iber-optic loop. A significant enhancement in the average soliton powe r required for stable transmission in a dispersion map with alternatin g signs of dispersion is experimentally demonstrated for the first tim e. Theoretical modeling of our experiment is in good agreement with ou r findings.