Influence of the pumping configuration on the generation of optical similaritons in optical fibers

The impact of forward and backward amplification schemes on the generation of optical similaritons has been numerically and experimentally investigated around 1550 nm using a fiber-based Raman amplifier. The pumping configuration does not affect the similariton nature of the output pulse, but it significantly influences the characteristics of the pulse. Shorter and higher peak-power similaritons are obtained using a backward pumping scheme. The study of the influence of the initial pulse energy also highlights the higher pumping efficiency obtained in the case of counter-propagating amplification.