Pulse confinement in optical fibers with random dispersion.

Short-range correlated uniform noise in the dispersion coefficient, inherent in many types of optical fibers, broadens and eventually destroys all initially ultra-short pulses. However, under the constraint that the integral of the random component of the dispersion coefficient is set to zero (pinned), periodically or quasi-periodically along the fiber, the dynamics of the pulse propagation changes dramatically. For the case that randomness is present in addition to constant positive dispersion, the pinning restriction significantly reduces average pulse broadening. If the randomness is present in addition to piece-wise constant periodic dispersion with positive residual value, the pinning may even provide probability distributions of pulse parameters that are numerically indistinguishable from the statistically steady case. The pinning method can be used to both manufacture better fibers and upgrade existing fiber links.