Nonlinearities in Glass Fibers

In analogy to Hook's law of Newton's mechanics, nonlinear terms are considered. An overview of nonlinear effects is given. In glassy materials, only nonlinear scattering effects (stimulated Raman scattering and stimulated Brillouin scattering) and third-order optical nonlinearities (four-wave mixing, self-phase modulation, and cross-phase modulation) play a role. The role of chirp is discussed. Polarization dispersion management is then explained. Methods of active dispersion compensation are discussed. Finally, solitons as form-stable, dispersion-free light waves are introduced phenomenologically.