Tunable optical delay using parametric amplification in highly birefringent optical fibers

We theoretically study parametric amplification in highly birefringent optical fibers and show that large tunable optical delay or advancement can be achieved via slow and fast light propagation. We provide a clear derivation of the formula for the optical delay that originates from the imaginary part of the parametric gain. We also perform numerical simulations in both normal and anomalous dispersion regimes. In the latter case, results show that large nanosecond optical delay could, in principle, be obtained at 1550 nm in a 1-km-long polarization-maintaining fiber. We further demonstrate that the optical delay and advancement rely on a group-velocity locking between the two cross-polarized signal and idler pulses. (C) 2011 Optical Society of America