ABSTRACT
In conventional optics, focused intense light only interacts with solid media at length scales of centimeters at most, limited by the size of the beam waist of the focused beam. High-intensity light in the small core of an optical ber laser can interact with glass at length scales 3-6 orders of magnitude longer, i.e., from meters to many kilometers. The resulting nonlinear effects often present limitations for power scaling of ber lasers. They, sometimes, do offer opportunities, too, as in the cases of optical solitons and super-continuum generation. Key nonlinear effects impacting ber lasers will be covered in this chapter.
