A study on solitons in optical communication systems

The change in velocity of individual components in a pulse due to the variation in wavelength causes Group Velocity Dispersion(GVD) and non-linear effects in a fiber leads to Self-Phase Modulation(SPM). The balance between GVD and SPM results in the formation of special type of an optical pulse known as soliton. Soliton provides transmission of information about long distances without any change in its amplitude and power. Therefore fundamental solitons can be used as a carrier for transmitting data in a long-haul system when compared with Gaussian, Super-Gaussian pulses and other optical pulses. When two solitons interact with each other during propagation, these optical pulses travel without any change in its shape and power which results in elastic collision.