Chalcogenide glasses as a medium for controlling parameters of ultrashort IR pulses: II

The propagation of ultrashort optical pulses in planar chalcogenide glass waveguides with uniform or periodic claddings is considered. In comparison with silica waveguides a structure based on chalcogenide glass provides higher nonlinearity. This material has a high normal dispersion in the wavelength range of 1.5–3.5 μm. Periodic waveguide structures can be used to compensate for this dispersion. High-intensity laser pulses propagating in these structures undergo spectral broadening. The influence of the phase self-modulation of a pulse on its spectrum and width is analyzed using numerical simulations.