Soliton self-frequency shift performance in As_2S_3 waveguides

The soliton self-frequency shift in As(2)S(3) is investigated theoretically. Differences in the shapes of the Raman spectra in silica and As(2)S(3) are predicted to lead to variations of less than 25% in the frequency shift rate of a fundamental soliton. Detailed simulation of the propagation of a low peak power pulse in a chalcogenide ridge waveguide shows the concepts of Raman soliton behaviour in silica to be transferrable to As(2)S(3). Thus we predict the effectiveness of the soliton self-frequency shift in contributing to wide bandwidth generation in low-power supercontinua at mid-infrared wavelengths in this highly nonlinear chalcogenide, as well as other nonlinear processing applications such as digital quantization for optical analogue to digital conversion.