A novel numerical approach for the efficient synthesis of dispersion-flattened fibers is presented. This approach is based oil the combination of genetic algorithms and finite elements. Severe constraints, such as a given maximum monochromatic dispersion level and maximum flatness over a desired band, are easily attained. To show the validity and usefulness of our approach, three different profiles are optimized, and their results are compared with published ones. (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.314245248