Generation of parabolic similaritons in tapered silicon photonic wires: comparison of pulse dynamics at telecom and mid-IR wavelengths

We study the generation of parabolic self-similar optical pulses in tapered Si photonic nanowires (Si-PhNWs) both at telecom (\lambda=1.55 \mu m) and mid-IR (\lambda=2.2 \mu m) wavelengths. Our computational study is based on a rigorous theoretical model, which fully describes the influence of linear and nonlinear optical effects on pulse propagation in Si-PhNWs with arbitrarily varying width. Numerical simulations demonstrate that, in the normal dispersion regime, optical pulses evolve naturally into parabolic pulses upon propagating in millimeter-long tapered Si-PhNWs, with the efficiency of this pulse reshaping process being strongly dependent on the spectral and pulse parameter regime in which the device operates, as well as the particular shape of the Si-PhNW.