Optimum dispersion profile for compression of fundamental solitons in dispersion decreasing fibers

In this paper, we have investigated the effect of dispersion profile on the performance of pulse compression in a dispersion decreasing fiber (DDF). Four closely shaped profiles, namely linear, Gaussian, exponential, and hyperbolic, have been considered. We have shown that appropriate shaping of the dispersion profile, particularly when higher order effects are accounted for, is quite effective for adiabatic compression of fundamental solitons, producing high-quality compressed pulses in the sense that the soliton pulse is compressed as a single unit and pedestals do not form. It is concluded that the linear and Gaussian dispersion profiles are nearly optimum in regards to the quality of the compressed pulse and the amount of compression achievable, in particular in the case of subpicosecond soliton pulse compression.