Energy conversion in degenerate four-photon mixing in birefringent fibers

We predict that the third-order parametric mixing of a pump with a pair of orthogonally polarized sidebands in a birefringent single-mode optical fiber may be spatially unstable. The interaction may exhibit both periodic and nonperiodic energy conversion and period doubling. This analysis allows us to propose a new scheme for all-optical switching as well as to predict the most efficient conditions for energy conversion when pump depletion is accounted for