Exploiting the quantum structure of optical solitons

Summary form only given. Optical solitons in fibres are attractive macroscopical quantum objects, which are particle-like pulses propagating over large distances without distortion due to the balance between Kerr nonlinearity and group velocity dispersion effects. However, in the frame of the quantum theory, they exhibit a complicated internal quantum structure with nontrivial nonlinear dynamics. In the process of the propagation along a fiber, the nonlinear dynamics of secant hyperbolical shaped optical pulses lead to the formation of classically stable soliton pulses with a rich variety of nonclassical properties, such as quantum noise reduction, spectral quantum noise correlations, and quantum non-demolition interactions. We discuss the experimental characterisation of these quantum properties of femtosecond optical solitons at the telecommunication wavelength of 1.5 /spl mu/m experiencing nonlinear-interactions in silica fibres.