Bragg solitons in nonlinear periodic structures

Summary form only given. We review experiments and present new experimental results that demonstrate nonlinear polarization mode conversion in birefringent Bragg gratings, enhanced by the strong dispersion of the grating. We show that many of these experimental results can be explained using a simple intuitive NLSE model, with an effective dispersion provided by the grating. Finally, we use this NLSE model to design a range of novel nonlinear devices, including pulse compressors and pulse regenerators, with potential applications in future lightwave systems.