Self-similar propagation and amplification of parabolic pulses in optical fibers

Ultrashort pulse propagation in high gain optical fiber amplifiers with normal dispersion is studied by self-similarity analysis of the nonlinear Schrodinger equation with gain. An exact asymptotic solution is found, corresponding to a linearly chirped parabolic guise which propagates self-similarly subject to simple scaling rules. The solution has been confirmed by numerical simulations and experiments studying propagation in a Yb-doped fiber amplifier. Additional experiments show that the pulses remain parabolic after propagation through standard single mode fiber with normal dispersion.