ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces the reader to the roles that the soliton of the one-dimensional nonlinear Schrodinger (NLS) equation will play in fiber optics communications and in slab waveguides. It discusses nonlinear fiber optics, the possibilities, the expectations, and the challenges. The chapter reviews the principles of waveguides. It introduces the Transverse Electric (TE) and Transverse Magnetic (TM) modes of a nonlinear planar waveguide. The chapter describes the NLS equation for monomode, polarization preserving fibers. It explains how to compute the shapes of guided TE waves that are attached and propagate parallel to an interface that separates two dielectrics with different nonlinear refractive indices. The chapter discusses how nonlinear pulses promise to revolutionize telecommunications. It calculates the shapes of guided TE and TM waves for the case of the symmetric planar waveguide. The chapter emphasizes that much fundamental work remains to be done before solitary wave pulses become the standard means of communication in optical fibers.
