Abstract

To characterize the optical Kerr switching capabilities in optical fibers,^1,2 It is important to evaluate the effect of pulse walk-off on both components of intensity-induced phase changes, ΔΦ∥(t) and ΔΦ⊥(t), parallel and perpendicular to the pump wave polarization. This is because the Kerr switching properties are determined by the effective phase change δ(t) = ΔΦ∥(t)−ΔΦ⊥(t), in contrast with the case of self-phase modulation governed by ΔΦ∥(t). Since ΔΦ∥(t) and ΔΦ⊥(t) are proportional to the nonlinear refractive-index components n_2B║ and n_2B⊥, respectively, It Is also essential to determine both coefficients for obtaining the precise profile of δ (t).

© 1988 Optical Society of America