Importance of third order dispersion parameter on the pico second pulse propagation in an optical fiber

The dispersion plays an important role in pulse propagation in an optical fiber. The effect of higher order dispersion terms are generally neglected for pico second pulse propagation. In this paper we have tried to discuss the propagation length upto which the third order dispersion (TOD) parameter may be neglected. Beyond this length the ignorance of this parameter is not possible as it may affect the pulse shape. Semiconductor Bloch equations are applied to determine the Polarization induced in the medium due to incident Gaussian pulse. The analysis of induced polarization is made by Non linear Schrodinger equation. To represent the pulse propagation behavior linear partial differential equation is used. The results of the numerical calculations provide a support for the fact that the third order dispersion parameter in an optical fiber may be neglected only upto a specified length depending upon the input pulse width.