Comb Modulation Research Articles

300 GHz Wireless Link Based on Whole Comb Modulation of Integrated Kerr Soliton Combs

300 GHz Wireless Link Based on Whole Comb Modulation of Integrated Kerr Soliton Combs

Intra-Datacenter Interconnects With a Serialized Silicon Optical Frequency Comb Modulator

Powerful warehouse-scale datacenters form the fabric of cloud computing. Efficient computing requires intra-datacenter interconnects with large capacity, low energy consumption, and high scalability. These unique goals present brand new scientific and technological challenges for short-reach optical communications. Silicon photonics (SiP) modulators are promising for intra-datacenter interconnects for its low energy consumption, with the superiority of low cost, small footprint, and complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) compatibility. While currently, the main research focus is to increase the modulation speed of a single SiP modulator for a large interconnect capacity, parallel schemes exhibit better scalability. In this article, we propose intra-datacenter interconnects using dense wavelength-division multiplexing (DWDM) techniques with a single SiP optical frequency comb modulator (OFCM) to achieve potential large capacity and high scalability. The SiP-OFCM consists of serially cascaded microring modulators (MRMs). The MRM based SiP-OFCM is intrinsically compatible with DWDM, performing simultaneously data modulation for multiple optical carriers, DWDM demultiplexing and multiplexing functionalities. We demonstrate an interconnect line rate of 400 Gbit/s with a PAM 4 modulation format using the SiP-OFCM. All four DWDM channels exhibit bit-error ratios below the 33% hard-decision forward-error correction threshold after 2-km single-mode fiber transmission.

Rapid survey of nuclear quadrupole resonance by broadband excitation with comb modulation and dual-mode acquisition.

Nuclear Quadrupole Resonance (NQR) provides spectra carrying information as to the electric-field gradient around nuclei with a spin quantum number I > 1/2 and offers helpful clues toward characterizing the electronic structure of materials of chemical interest. A major challenge in NQR is finding hitherto unknown resonance frequencies, which can scatter over a wide range, requiring time consuming repetitive measurements with stepwise frequency increments. Here, we report on an efficient, two-step NQR protocol by bringing rapid-scan and frequency-comb together. In the first step, wideband excitation and simultaneous signal acquisition, both realized by a non-adiabatic, frequency-swept hyperbolic secant (HS) pulse with comb modulation, offers a clue for the existence/absence of the resonance within the frequency region under investigation. When and only when the sign of the resonance has been detected, the second step is implemented to compensate the limited detection bandwidth of the first and to unambiguously determine the NQR frequency. We also study the spin dynamics under the comb-modulated HS pulse by numerical simulations, and experimentally demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed scheme, which is referred to as RApid-Scan with GApped excitation with Dual-mode Operation (RASGADO) NQR.

Characterization of a Hadamard transform time-of-flight mass spectrometer

A pseudorandom time-of-flight method (also called the cross-correlation method) has been used to perform time-of-flight mass spectrometry with a duty cycle of 50%. Modulation of an ion beam is accomplished by deflecting the ion beam with an interleaved comb of oppositely charged elements. Maximum-length pseudorandom sequences based on Hadamard-type difference sets are produced by feedback shift register circuitry and used for ion beam modulation. The inverse transformation of the recorded signal is carried out speedily with the help of the fast Hadamard transform, which allows real-time monitoring of the mass spectrum. The components of the instrument are described, and its performance is characterized. Trajectory simulations are found to be in good agreement with experimental findings, which aids in understanding the modulation dynamics. It is found that the wire comb modulator can be modeled as a set of ideal deflection plates of length 0.875 l, where l is the spacing between oppositely charged wires.