Femtosecond pulse-shaping scheme for cross-phase modulation in single-mode optical fibers

We report a pump-probe cross-phase-modulation experiment in a single-mode optical fiber in which the probe spectrum is shifted by an amount comparable with its spectral width under the influence of a 250-pJ pump pulse. The pulses are 210 fs FWHM and are generated by the reshaping of the pulses of a femtosecond Ti:sapphire laser. The dependence of the wavelength shift on the pump-probe delay time is investigated, and the results are found to be in good agreement with numerical simulations. Application to all-optical femtosecond switching is discussed.