Abstract
This paper demonstrates a reconfigurable optical pulse generator based on
the creation of a high-quality flat continuum that covers the C-band,
followed by the tailoring of the spectral amplitude and phase of the
continuum using a commercially available reconfigurable programmable optical
processor in order to provide an arbitrary picosecond pulse shape or width.
The highly efficient continuum is achieved by seeding a highly nonlinear
fiber with transform-limited 4 ps parabolic-shaped pulses. A 20 nm 3 dB
continuum at the very high repetition rate of 40 GHz is generated.
Fourier-domain pulse shaping techniques are then applied to this continuum
via the programmable optical processor to generate any arbitrary pulse
shape. We present two specific pulse shaping examples suitable for a variety
of high-bit-rate applications. The first example shows the improvement in
pulse quality using tailored compression techniques over conventional
methods and the second example presents multiwavelength pulse generation,
which demonstrates the flexibility and range of pulse shapes that can be
achieved using this system. Experimental findings are supported with
theoretical results.
© 2009 IEEE
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