Soliton self-frequency shift decelerated by self-steepening

Self-steepening of ultrashort light pulses is shown to reduce the soliton self-frequency shift (SSFS) induced by the Raman effect in an optical fiber. We derive an analytical expression for the SSFS that conserves the number of photons and allows the SSFS to be calculated for arbitrary frequency profiles of fiber dispersion and Raman gain without a numerical solution of the pulse evolution equation. The accuracy of this analytical approach to SSFS calculation is tested by numerical simulations based on the generalized nonlinear Schrodinger equation. (C) 2008 Optical Society of America.