We report the first experimental demonstration of the optical pushbroom—a novel type of all-optical pulse compression. In the optical pushbroom high intensity pump pulses, tuned well away from the resonance of a Bragg grating, modify the transmission of a weak probe tuned near to the grating's photonic band gap. The clarity of the experimental results and their close agreement with numerical simulations highlight the tremendous potential of the fiber environment for the detailed study and practical application of nonlinear Bragg grating effects.

• Received 7 July 1997

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.79.4566