Optical Solitons: From Fibers to Photonic Crystals

by Yuri S. Kivshar, Govind P. Agrawal

Overview

The current research into solitons and their use in fiber optic communications is very important to the future of communications. Since the advent of computer networking and high speed data transmission technology people have been striving to develop faster and more reliable communications media. Optical pulses tend to broaden over relatively short distances due to dispersion, but solitons on the other hand are not as susceptible to the effects of dispersion, and although they are subject to losses due to attenuation they can be amplified without being received and re-transmitted.This book is the first to provide a thorough overview of optical solitons. The main purpose of this book is to present the rapidly developing field of Spatial Optical Solitons starting from the basic concepts of light self-focusing and self-trapping. It will introduce the fundamental concepts of the theory of nonlinear waves and solitons in non-integrated but physically realistic models of nonlinear optics including their stability and dynamics. Also, it will summarize a number of important experimental verification of the basic theoretical predictions and concepts covering the observation of self-focusing in the earlier days of nonlinear optics and the most recent experimental results on spatial solitons, vortex solitons, and soliton interaction & spiraling.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780124105904
Publisher:	Elsevier Science
Publication date:	03/05/2003
Pages:	540
Product dimensions:	5.94(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Govind P. Agrawal received his B.Sc. degree from the University of Lucknow in 1969 with honours. He was awarded a gold medal for achieving the top position in the university. Govind joined the Indian Institute of Technology at New Delhi in 1969 and received the M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in 1971 and 1974, respectively. After holding positions at the Ecole Polytechnique (France), the City University of New York, and the Laser company, Quantel, Orsay, France, Dr. Agrawal joined in 1981 the technical staff of the world-famous AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, N.J., USA, where he worked on problems related to the development of semiconductor lasers and fiber-optic communication systems. He joined in 1989 the faculty of the Institute of Optics at the University of Rochester where he is a Professor of Optics. His research interests focus on quantum electronics, nonlinear optics, and optical communications. In particular, he has contributed significantly to the fields of semiconductor lasers, nonlinear fiber optics, and optical communications. He is an author or co-author of more than 250 research papers, several book chapters and review articles, and four books. He has also edited the books "Contemporary Nonlinear Optics" (Academic Press, 1992) and "Semiconductor Lasers: Past, Present and Future" (AIP Press, 1995). The books authored by Dr. Agrawal have influenced an entire generation of scientists. Several of them have been translated into Chinese, Japanese, Greek, and Russian.

Read an Excerpt

The first book to provide a thorough overview of optical solitons--light pulses that maintain their shape over long distances.

Table of Contents

Preface1. Introduction2. Spatial Solitons3. Temporal Solitons4. Dark Solitons5. Bragg Solitons6. Two-Dimensional Solitons7. Spatiotemporal Solitons8. Vortex Solitons9. Vector Solitons10. Parametric Solitons11. Discrete Solitons12. Solitons in Photonic Crystals13. Incoherent Solitons14. Related ConceptsReferencesIndex

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

The first book to provide a thorough overview of optical solitons—light pulses that maintain their shape over long distances.

Editorial Reviews

Here, readers can obtain all the important and theoretical and experimental information pertaining to optical solitons in a single, well-organized book that offers complete coverage of every variety of soliton wave. For the benefit of prosepctive readers, the book presents detailed experimental and theoretical information on vortex, vector, parametric, descrete, incoherent and magnetic solutions, as well as on various categories of solitons contained witinin these general catagories...A good table of contents is supported by a complete index. There are hundreds of references at the end of each chapter. There are also many useful graphs and figures in each chapter. Although there are no problems for the reader to solve, this volume could certainly serve as a textbook. The target readership of electrical engineers, optical engineers, and physicists interested in the area of optical solitons have a useful new book from two authors who continue to be at the leading edge of their field. - Optics and Photonics News, Dec. 2004

From the Publisher