Generation of broadband similaritons for complete characterization of femtosecond pulses

Broadband nonlinear-dispersive similariton (50 THz bandwidth; > 100 nm at 800 nm central wavelength) is generated in passive uniform fiber and characterized experimentally through the chirp measurement technique of spectral compression and frequency tuning in the sum-frequency generation process. The potential of similariton applications to the signal synthesis and analysis problems on the femtosecond time scale, especially for similariton-induced temporal lensing and similariton-based spectral interferometry, is discussed on the basis of our experiments. ► Broadband similariton of 50 THz bandwidth is generated in passive uniform fiber. ► The broadband similariton is characterized by means of its chirp measurement. ► Only dispersion determines the phase of broadband nonlinear-dispersive similariton. ► Two similariton-based methods for femtosecond-scale measurements are demonstrated. ► Our comparative study evidences the high precision of both methods.