Method for pulse transformations using dispersion varying optical fibre tapers

I introduce the problem of transforming one optical pulse into another via nonlinear propagation in a length of dispersion varying optical fibre. Then using a genetic algorithm to design the dispersion profiles, I show that the problem can be solved leading to high quality pulse transforms that are significantly better than what has been published previously. Finally I suggestion further work and other applications for this method. (C) 2010 Optical Society of America