Recompression of optical pulses broadened by passage through optical fibers

A new technique for achieving distortion-free pulse propagation through single-mode optical fibers is demonstrated. Mode-locked dye-laser pulses with 3.3-psec pulse widths and a wavelength of 5878 A were propagated through a 325-m single-mode optical fiber and emerged with 13-psec pulse widths. These output pulses were recompressed to their original 3.3-psec pulse widths by passage through a 50-cm near-resonant atomic sodium-vapor delay line.