Conversion efficiency in the process of co-polarized spontaneous four-wave mixing

Abstract: We study the process of co-polarized spontaneous four-wave mixing in single-mode optical fibers, with an emphasis on an analysis of the conversion efficiency. We consider both the monochromatic-pumps and pulsed-pumps regimes, as well as both the degenerate-pumps and non-degenerate-pumps configurations. We present analytical expressions for the conversion efficiency, which are given in terms of double integrals. In the case of pulsed pumps we take these expressions to closed analytical form with the help of certain approximations. We present results of numerical simulations, and compare them to values obtained from our analytical expressions, for the conversion efficiency as a function of several key experimental parameters.