NONLINEAR PHENOMENA IN SINGLE-MODE OPTICAL FIBERS

The low losses of optical fibers made of silica glasses make it possible to study, and use, nonlinear optical phenomena at lower power levels than are required for most other materials, despite their very small nonlinearities. Some of the more important and/or interesting nonlinear phenomena observed in single-mode optical fibers are reviewed, including pulse compression, bright soliton propagation, ultrafast all-optical switching, and new results on dark soliton propagation.