Abstract
Solitons are of fundamental importance in photonics due to applications in optical data transmission and also as a tool for investigating novel phenomena ranging from light generation at new frequencies and wave-trapping to rogue waves. Solitons are also moving scatterers: they generate refractive index perturbations moving at the speed of light. Here we found that such perturbations scatter light in an unusual way: they amplify light by the mixing of positive and negative frequencies, as we describe using a first Born approximation and numerical simulations. The simplest scenario in which these effects may be observed is within the initial stages of optical soliton propagation: a steep shock front develops that may efficiently scatter a second, weaker probe pulse into relatively intense positive and negative frequency modes with amplification at the expense of the soliton. Our results show a novel all-optical amplification scheme that relies on soliton induced scattering.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 932 |
Number of pages | 4 |
Journal | Scientific Reports |
Volume | 2 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 6 Dec 2012 |
Keywords
- Optical-fibres
- Solitons
- Non-linear optics
- Ultrafast photonics
- Supercontinuum generation