PULSE-COMPRESSION AND SPATIAL PHASE MODULATION IN NORMALLY DISPERSIVENONLINEAR KERR MEDIA

Numerical simulations show that, because of the spatiotemporal couplin g implied by the multidimensional nonlinear Schrodinger equation, self -focusing of ultrashort optical pulses can lead to pulse compression e ven in the normal-dispersion regime of a nonlinear Kerr medium. We sho w how this coupling can be further exploited to control the compressio n by use of spatial phase modulation. Both the compression factor and the position at which the minimum pulse width is realized change with the amplitude of the phase modulation.