Multi-wavelength discrete pulse train generation using chromatic aberration of time lens for ultrafast single-shot optical imaging

Abstract

We investigate a multi-wavelength discrete pulse train generation technique in which a relative delay is precisely controlled by a chromatic aberration of a time lens for application to ultrafast single-shot optical imaging based on sequentially timed all-optical mapping photography (STAMP). We use an intensity modulator functioning as a time filter, a phase modulator functioning as a time lens, and a standard single-mode fiber functioning as a dispersive medium to experimentally confirm four wavelength-multiplexed optical pulses, each with a duration of 17 ps and a tunable time interval, that are triggered by a ~ 100-ps electrical pulse signal. Our proposed laser configuration is suitable for the STAMP system under a moderate frame interval of a picosecond range in terms of compactness, cost, and energy consumption.