Pulse confinement in optical fibers with random dispersion

Short-range correlated uniform noise in the dispersion coefficient, inheren t in many types of optical fibers, broadens and eventually destroys all ini tially ultra-short pulses. However, under the constraint that the integral of the random component of the dispersion coefficient is set to zero (pinne d), periodically or quasiperiodically along the fiber, the dynamics of the pulse propagation changes dramatically. For the case that randomness is pre sent in addition to constant positive dispersion, the pinning restriction s ignificantly reduces average pulse broadening. If the randomness is present in addition to piece-wise constant periodic dispersion with positive resid ual value, the pinning may even provide probability distributions of pulse parameters that are numerically indistinguishable from the statistically st eady case. The pinning method can be used to both manufacture better fibers and upgrade existing fiber links.