Optical time lens based on four-wave mixing on a silicon chip

We propose a new technique to realize an optical time lens for ultrafast temporal processing that is based on four-wave mixing in a silicon nanowaveguide. The demonstrated time lens produces more than 100 pi of phase shift, which is not readily achievable using electro-optic phase modulators. Using this method we demonstrate 20x magnification of a signal consisting of two 3 ps pulses, which allows for temporal measurements using a detector with a 20 GHz bandwidth. Our technique offers the capability of ultrafast temporal characterization and processing in a chip-scale device.