Dispersive pulse compression in hollow-core photonic bandgap fibers

Compression of linearly chirped picosecond pulses in hollow-core photonic bandgap fibers is investigated numerically. The modal properties of the fibers are modeled using the finite-element technique, whereas nonlinear propagation is described by a generalized nonlinear Schrodinger equation, which accounts both for the composite nature of the nonlinearity and the strong mode profile dispersion. Power limits for compression with more than 90% of the pulse energy in the main peak of the compressed pulse are investigated as a function of fiber design, and the temporal and spectral widths of the input pulse. The validity of approximate scaling rules is investigated, and figures of merit for fiber design are discussed. (c) 2008 Optical Society of America.