On-chip optical pulse shaper for arbitrary waveform generation

We propose and demonstrate a silicon-on-insulator(SOI) on-chip optical pulse shaper based on four-tap finite impulse response. Due to different width designs in phase region of each tap, the phase differences for all taps are controlled by an external thermal source, resulting in an optical pulse shaper. We further demonstrate optical arbitrary waveform generation based on the optical pulse shaper assisted by an optical frequency comb injection. Four different optical waveforms are generated when setting the central wavelengths at 1533.78 nm and 1547.1 nm and setting the thermal source temperatures at 23℃ and 33℃, respectively. Our scheme has distinct advantages of compactness, capability for integrating with electronics since the integrated silicon waveguide is employed.     

High-resolution spectroscopy based on optical phase modulator and optical frequency comb

A phase modulation of an optical frequency comb has been applied to measure a fine spectrum in the 1.5 μm wavelength range by the optical heterodyne-detection method. The measurement frequency range covered 25 GHz, which satisfies the frequency interval of the optical frequency comb, with a spectral resolution of 1 MHz.     

基于飞秒锁模光纤激光脉冲基频光的差频产生红外光梳

报道了一种基于飞秒锁模光纤激光脉冲基频光的光纤型差频产生(DFG)红外光梳及其研制技术.基于自主研制的重频锁定200 MHz飞秒锁模掺铒光纤激光器,经啁啾脉冲光纤放大与超连续谱产生技术,优化近零色散OFS光纤(型号:OFS-980-20)长度,结合可调延时线,获得了精准同步的基频双色脉冲;以GaSe为非线性晶体,利用光整流技术,产生了可在6—10μm范围内宽带调谐的DFG红外光梳,光梳最大光谱宽度可达1.3μm.这种光纤型远红外光梳可望在分子光谱精密测量等领域发挥重要作用.     

Optimized amplification of femtosecond optical pulses by dispersion management for octave-spanning optical frequency comb generation

We report a method for optimizing the amplification of femtosecond optical pulses by using dispersion management. The amount of dispersion provided to the seed optical pulse of an erbium-doped fiber (EBF) has an optimal region that enhances the output power of an amplifier. The power enhancement is accompanied by spectral broadening, which originates from adiabatic narrowing in the erbium-doped fiber. The amplified optical pulses can be used to generate an octave-spanning optical frequency comb (OFC) by employing a highly nonlinear fiber (HNLF).     

Optical pulse shaper with integrated slab waveguide for arbitrary waveform generation using optical gradient force

Integrated optical pulse shaper opens up possibilities for realizing the ultra high-speed and ultra wide-band linear signal processing with compact size and low power consumption. We propose a silicon monolithic integrated optical pulse shaper using optical gradient force, which is based on the eight-path finite impulse response. A cantilever structure is fabricated in one arm of the Mach–Zehnder interferometer（MZI） to act as an amplitude modulator. The phase shift feature of waveguide is analyzed with the optical pump power, and five typical waveforms are demonstrated with the manipulation of optical force. Unlike other pulse shaper schemes based on thermo–optic effect or electro–optic effect, our scheme is based on a new degree of freedom manipulation, i.e., optical force, so no microelectrodes are required on the silicon chip,which can reduce the complexity of fabrication. Besides, the chip structure is suitable for commercial silicon on an insulator（SOI） wafer, which has a top silicon layer of about 220 nm in thickness.     

A two-stage optical frequency comb generator based on Mach-Zehnder modulator and Re-circulating frequency shifter

We propose a novel scheme to generate optical frequency comb by using a two-stage generator based on Mach-Zehnder modulator and re-circulating frequency shifter. Based on the Mach-Zehnder modulator a light source including 2 flat and stable frequency spectrum lines is generated at the first stage, and the light source is then used as the seed light in the re-circulating frequency shifter loop at the second stage. The scheme can greatly reduce the accumulated noise of the system. Through theoretical analysis and simulation it is shown that the proposed theoretical model of the two-stage system is proved in good agreement with simulation results.     

飞秒光频梳的任意长绝对测距

高精度测距在工业、航空航天、科学研究等方面都具有重要应用, 而不断发展的激光测距技术始终处于前沿研究领域. 本文研究飞秒光频梳绝对测距技术, 拓展光梳在长度测量领域的应用. 在利用脉冲激光进行任意绝对长度测量中常用到飞行时间法, 然而其测量分辨力受限于电子器件的带宽, 仅为毫米量级. 为克服这一缺点, 本文研究了光梳多脉冲序列之间的时间相干性, 结合多脉冲序列干涉法和飞行时间法提出了任意长绝对测距的方法, 搭建了基于改进型Michelson干涉原理的任意绝对测长系统, 通过同时测量多脉冲序列的一阶和二阶互相关信号, 可以分别计算出飞行时间的时间差, 即可得到被测距离. 利用光梳作为光源进行了0.6m的绝对测距实验, 将测量结果与高精度激光位移传感器的测量值进行比较, 实验结果表明本系统具有良好的测量线性度, 并且测距精度可达±0.5μm. 关键词： 飞秒光频梳 任意长绝对测距 飞行时间法 多脉冲序列干涉法     

Arbitrary waveform generation for pre-compensation in optical fiber communication systems

The powerful capabilities of electronic digital signal processing and digital-to-analog conversion for implementing waveform generation in an optical transmitter are illustrated by considering pre-compensation for optical filtering, fiber dispersion, and nonlinear modulation dynamics.     

All polarization-maintaining Er:fiber-based optical frequency comb for frequency comparison of optical clocks

We demonstrate an optical frequency comb (OFC) based on a turnkey mode-locked laser with a figure-9-shape structure and polarization-maintaining fibers, for the comparison of frequency among optical clocks with wavelengths of 698 nm, 729 nm, 1068 nm, and 1156 nm. We adopt a multi-branch approach in order to produce high power OFC signals at these specific wavelengths, enabling the signal-to-noise ratio of the beatnotes between the OFC and the clock lasers to exceed 30 dB at a resolution bandwidth of 300 kHz. This approach makes the supercontinuum spectra much easier to be generated than a single branch OFC. However, more out-of-loop fibers degrade the long-term frequency instability due to thermal drift. To minimize the thermal drift effect, we set the fiber lengths of different branches to be similar, and we stabilize the temperature as well. The out-of-loop frequency instability of the OFC due to the incoherence of the multi-branch is about 5.5×10^-19 for 4000 s, while the in-loop frequency instability of f_ceo and that of f_beat are 7.5×10^-18 for 1 s and 8.5×10^-18 for 1 s, respectively. The turnkey OFC meets the requirement for the comparison of frequency between the best optical clocks.     

一种光学频率梳绝对测距的新方法

采用光学频率梳的高精度绝对距离测量技术在航空航天、科学研究和工业生产等领域都发挥着重要作用.提出一种利用光学频率梳技术,通过检测光强实现绝对距离测量的新方法,研究了光学频率梳发出脉冲的时间相干性,分析了光强与被测距离之间的关系、干涉条纹峰值点位置与被测距离之间的关系.建立了基于Michelson干涉原理的测距系统,通过测量光强信息得到被测距离.以高精度纳米位移平台的位移量作为长度基准进行了绝对测距实验,在每个被测距离点都重复进行了10次实验,将10次实验测得的光强值取平均后用于距离的计算.实验结果表明,该方法可以实现绝对距离测量,在10μm测量范围内,最大误差为47 nm.因此,该方法可以应用于大尺寸高精度的绝对距离测量.     

基于飞秒光频梳的双频He-Ne激光器频率测量

利用光纤飞秒光频梳和外腔可调谐半导体激光器, 建立了一套双频He-Ne激光器频率测量系统. 选用铷钟作为系统的频率基准, 通过将外腔半导体激光锁定至光频梳使得其频率溯源至铷钟, 再利用外腔可调谐半导体激光与双频He-Ne激光器输出的正交偏振激光拍频, 同时测量两路正交偏振激光频率. 将可调谐半导体激光器锁定至光频梳第1894449个梳齿, 其绝对频率为473612190000.0±2.7 kHz, 相对不确定度为5.7×10^-12. 对商品双频He-Ne激光器进行频率测量实验, 双频He-Ne激光器水平方向偏振激光频率均值为473612229934 kHz, 竖直方向偏振激光频率均值为473612232111 kHz, 平均时间为1024 s的相对Allan标准差为5.2×10^-11, 频差均值为2.177 MHz, 标准偏差为2 kHz.     

Photonic generation of arbitrary waveforms based on incoherent wavelength-to-time mapping

We demonstrate experimentally a radio frequency arbitrary waveform generator using the incoherent wavelengthto-time mapping technique.The system is implemented by amplitude modulation of a broadband optical resource whose spectrum is reshaped by a programmable optical pulse shaper and transmitted over a single mode fiber link.The shape of the generated waveform is controlled by the optical pulse shaper,and the fiber link introduces a certain group velocity delay to implement wavelength-to-time mapping.Assisted by the flexible optical pulse shaper,we obtain different shapes of optical waveforms,such as rectangle,triangle,and sawtooth waveforms.Furthermore,we also demonstrate ultra-wideband generation,such as Gaussian monocycle,doublet,and triplet waveforms,using the incoherent technique.     

A spurious frequencies suppression method for optical frequency comb based microwave photonic filter

The traditional optical frequency comb (OFC) based microwave photonic filters (MPFs) are rigidly restricted to be operated in a single “Nyquist zone”, as varieties of spurious frequencies signals coexist in the output. Here, a method for spurious frequencies suppression in the OFC‐based MPF is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. The method is achieved by applying group velocity dispersion on the carrier combs to separate the filter transfer functions of the spurious frequencies from that of the input radio frequency signal. It is fairly simple and effective, and has no effect on the filter characteristic. With this method, the filter pass band can be freely tuned without the limitation of the “Nyquist zone”. It can be considered as a step forward for the practical application of the OFC‐based MPF.     

High-resolution spectroscopy using interleaved 100 GHz optical frequency comb scanned by phase modulator

A high-resolution spectroscopy technique is proposed with an optical phase modulator combined with an interleaved optical frequency comb. The optical phase modulator and a frequency-locked laser light guarantee a spectral resolution less than 1 MHz on an absolute frequency axis. A wide measurement frequency range was realized using a 25 GHz optical frequency comb lying over a 4 THz frequency region. An extraction of single tooth intensity from the comb was realized by a heterodyne technique with a frequency-tunable laser used as a local oscillator. Also, the 25 GHz optical frequency comb was interleaved to generate four 100-GHz combs for removing the crosstalk from the 25 GHz neighboring sidebands in the teeth. This proposed spectroscopy technique was experimentally demonstrated with a resonator of less than 1 MHz linewidth and a H¹³C¹⁴N gas cell. Thus, a measurement frequency range higher than 4 THz (1530 nm-1560 nm) was confirmed with an effective spectral resolution 100 kHz order. In addition, the characteristics of the proposed system were compared with those of the previous system with a single-sideband (SSB) optical modulator.     

Accurate frequency atlas of molecular iodine near 532 nm measured by an optical frequency comb generator

An optical frequency comb generator (OFCG) at 1064 nm with a modulation frequency of 2 GHz is developed for an accurate optical frequency link between iodine absorption lines near 532 nm. With the OFCG, we have measured frequency differences between seventeen ¹²⁷I₂ transitions with a measurement uncertainty of about 240 Hz (relatively 4.3×10⁻¹³), which is mainly contributed from the frequency repeatability of iodine-stabilized Nd:YAG lasers. The measured transitions provide an attractive frequency reference network and are excellent candidates for the practical realization of the meter.     

Tunable optical comb generation based on carrier-suppressed intensity modulation and phase modulation

<正>An approach to generate a flat optical comb with tunable comb spacing and adjustable comb number is proposed.In the proposed approach,a Mach-Zehnder modulator(MZM),being biased to generate two carrier-suppressed first-order sidebands,is cascaded with a phase modulator.The two optical sidebands are then sent to the phase modulator to generate two identical,but frequency-shifted phase-modulated spectra.Thanks to the complementary nature of the two adjacent comb lines in the phase-modulated spectra,the overlapping of the two spectra would lead to the generation of a flat optical comb.Since only the phase modulation index or the microwave power is needed to be adjusted,the system is easy to be implemented with tunable comb spacing and adjustable comb number.Numerical simulations are performed,and the approach is verified by an experiment.     

Frequency comb generation in the green using silicon nitride microresonators

Optical frequency combs enable precision measurements in fundamental physics and have been applied to a growing number of applications, such as molecular spectroscopy, LIDAR and atmospheric trace‐gas sensing. In recent years, the generation of frequency combs has been demonstrated in integrated microresonators. Extending their spectral range to the visible is generally hindered by strong normal material dispersion and scattering losses. In this paper, we report the first realization of a green‐light frequency comb in integrated high‐Q silicon nitride (SiN) ring microresonators. Third‐order optical non‐linearities are utilized to convert a near‐infrared Kerr frequency comb to a broadband green light comb. The 1‐THz frequency spacing infrared comb covers up to 2/3 of an octave, from 144 to 226 THz (or 1327‐2082 nm), and the simultaneously generated green‐light comb is centered around 570‐580 THz (or 517‐526 nm), with comb lines emitted down to 517 THz (or 580 nm) and up to 597 THz (or 502 nm). The green comb power is estimated to be as high as −9.1 dBm in the bus waveguide, with an on‐chip conversion efficiency of −34 dB. The proposed approach substantiates the feasibility of on‐chip optical frequency comb generation expanding to the green spectral region or even shorter wavelengths.

     

RF arbitrary waveform generation using tunable planar lightwave circuits

We demonstrate photonically-assisted generation of RF arbitrary waveforms using planar lightwave circuits (PLCs) fabricated on silica-on-silicon. We exploit thermo-optic effects in silica in order to tune the response of the PLC and hence reconfigure the generated waveform. We demonstrate the generation of pulse trains at 40 GHz and 80 GHz with flat-top, Gaussian, and apodized profiles. These results demonstrate the potential for RF arbitrary waveform generation using chip-scale photonic solutions.     

低相噪光学频率梳

光学频率梳是光钟的重要组成部分,相噪是光梳的基本特性。文章从光梳相噪的描述方法入手,对光学频率梳相噪产生的几种常见来源及相噪抑制技术进行了综述,详细介绍了业已实现的几种低相噪光学频率梳。文末展望了未来低相噪光学频率梳的发展新趋势。     

基于飞秒光频梳的压电陶瓷闭环位移控制系统

利用飞秒光频梳、外腔可调谐半导体激光器和法布里-珀罗干涉仪建立了一套压电陶瓷亚纳米级闭环位移控制系统. 将可调谐半导体激光器锁定至光频梳, 通过精确调谐光频梳的重复频率, 实现了半导体激光器在其工作频率范围内的精密调谐. 利用Pound-Drever-Hall锁定技术将带有压电陶瓷的法布里-珀罗腔锁定至半导体激光器, 进而通过频率发生系统控制压电陶瓷产生亚纳米级分辨率的位移. 实验研究发现锁定至光频梳后可调谐半导体激光器1 s的Allan标准偏差为1.68×10^-12, 将其在30.9496 GHz范围内进行连续闭环调谐, 可获得压电陶瓷的位移行程约为4.8 μm; 以3.75 Hz的步长扫描光频梳的重复频率, 实现了压电陶瓷的450 pm闭环位移分辨率并测定了压电陶瓷的磁滞特性曲线. 该系统不存在非线性测量误差, 且激光频率及压电陶瓷位移均溯源至铷钟频率源. 关键词： 光频梳 压电陶瓷 法布里-珀罗腔 可调谐半导体激光器