Increase of the SBS threshold in a short highly nonlinear fiber by applying a temperature distribution

We evaluate numerically and experimentally the stimulated Brillouin scatter ing (SBS) threshold increase for a short, highly nonlinear GeO2-doped fiber by applying different temperature distributions along the fiber. The tempe rature coefficient for the Brillouin frequency downshift is measured to 1.2 MHz/degreesC. A threefold SBS threshold increase Is obtained for a 100-m l ong highly nonlinear fiber with a 140 degreesC temperature gradient. The pr oposed scheme is implemented in a wavelength converter based on fiber optic al four-wave mixing (FWM). The SBS suppression scheme shows negligible infl uence on the FWM efficiency as well as the wavelength conversion bandwidth. The temperature coefficient for the zero dispersion wavelength is measured to 0.062 nm/degreesC.