Pulse distortion in optical fibers and waveguides with arbitrary chromatic dispersion

We present a complete end-to-end characterization of Gaussian pulse propagation through optical fibers and waveguides with an arbitrary dispersion profile. Our model takes into account the possible chirping of the source and it also encompasses the influence of the source linewidth. We modeled the arbitrary dispersion by taking as much of the coefficients from the Taylor series representing the fiber and waveguide propagation constant as desired. The model is used to study the impact of higher-order dispersion terms in the propagated pulse shape and rms time width. Also outlined are applications to the calculation of capacity limits in optical communications systems limited by high-order dispersion terms and to other fields such as the calculation of aberrations in temporal imaging systems and spatial diffraction. (C) 2003 Optical Society of America.