SOLITONS EMERGING FROM PULSES LAUNCHED IN THE VICINITY OF THE ZERO-DISPERSION POINT IN A SINGLE-MODE OPTICAL FIBER

It is shown that solitons emerging from pulses launched with frequencies at, or close to, the zero-dispersion point in a single-mode optical fiber are ordinary bright solitons corresponding to the nonlinear Schrödinger equation. These solitons are inherently frequency shifted into the anomalous-dispersion regime, where the third-order dispersion acts as a small perturbation. We therefore conclude that an optical-soliton-based communication system should be designed with the carrier frequency in the anomalous-dispersion regime but not too close to the zero-dispersion point, where the formation of an unwanted dispersive-wave component would degrade the system performance. © 1990 Optical Society of America.