Nonlinear optics in fibers for fiber measurements and special device functions

Nonlinear optical effects in fibers are significant in three respects. They present undesirable transmission limitations for long-distance optical fiber communication systems due to the intensity-dependent loss and pulse waveform distortions. On the useful side, they provide efficient frequency conversion means for generating frequency-shifted optical sources for a variety of spectroscopic applications including optical fiber measurements and optical device characterization. In addition, nonlinear optical effects also can provide useful special optical device functions such as optical amplification, optical gating, optical pulseshaping, and waveform equalization. This paper gives a brief review of the latter two aspects of nonlinear optics in fibers.