Aperiodic electro-optic time lens for spectral manipulation of single-photon pulses

Abstract

Electro-optic time lenses are promising experimental components for photonic spectral-temporal processing of quantum information. We report a stable method to realize an electro-optic time lens, which relies on the amplification of an electronic response of a fast photodiode. The method does not require a repetitive clock and may be applied to aperiodic optical signals. We experimentally demonstrate the approach using single-photon pulses, and directly verify its aperiodicity. The approach will enable the construction of complex electro-optic temporal optical systems.