All-optical transistor operation in a fiber by a group velocity horizon

An intense optical pulse, e.g. soliton, may create an almost impenetrable refractive index barrier for a weaker probe pulse with considerably different carrier frequency but nearly the same group velocity. We investigate numerically the scattering process between a suitable dispersive wave and a soliton at the so-called group-velocity horizon. The reflection of the probe pulse induces a controllable change of the pulse shapes and carrier frequencies. This is true, both, for the probe pulse and for the fundamental soliton and provides an opportunity to manipulate properties of these pulses in a versatile manner. We demonstrate how this effect can be used for an all-optical transistor scheme, for the generation of broadband white-light continua with superior coherence properties, or for a direct adjustable pulse compression scheme.