The combination of the third-order optical nonlinearity with chromatic dispersion in optical fibers offers an extremely rich variety of possibilities for tailoring the temporal and spectral content of a light signal, depending on the regime of dispersion that is used. Because the nonlinear dynamics of pulses propagating in fibers with normal group-velocity dispersion is generally sensitive to the initial pulse condition, it is possible to nonlinearly shape the propagating pulses through control of the initial pulse temporal intensity and/or phase profile. Here, we review recent progress on the use of third-order nonlinear processes in normally dispersive fibers for pulse shaping in the temporal and spectral domains. Various examples of practical significance will be discussed, spanning fields from the generation of specialized temporal waveforms to the generation of stable continua with high power spectral density, and to spectral compression of the pulses.
