Transform-limited Gaussian Pulses Research Articles

In-Fiber All-Optical Fractional Differentiator Using an Asymmetrical Moiré Fiber Grating

In this work, it is demonstrated numerically that an asymmetric Moiré fiber grating operated in reflection can provide the required spectral response to implement an all-optical fractional differentiator. In our case, the accumulated phase shift is not associated with a point phase shift, as when working with fiber Bragg gratings and long-period gratings with punctual defects, but is distributed all over the grating. The proposed device is supported by numerical simulations, and a dimensionless deviation factor is calculated to make quantitative analysis feasible. The performance of the proposed device is analyzed using numerical simulations by computing the fractional time derivatives of the complex field of an arbitrary transform-limited Gaussian pulse. A comparison with the performance given by theoretical differentiation is also presented.

Breaking the Temporal Resolution Limit by Superoscillating Optical Beats.

Band-limited functions can oscillate locally at an arbitrarily fast rate through an interference phenomenon known as superoscillations. Using an optical pulse with a superoscillatory envelope we experimentally break the temporal Fourier-transform focusing limit with a temporal feature that is approximately three times shorter than the duration of a transform-limited Gaussian pulse having a comparable bandwidth while maintaining 30% visibility. We experimentally demonstrate the ability of such signals to achieve temporal superresolution and show numerically in which cases such pulses can outperform transform-limited pulses.

Ultrashort Pulse and High Power Mode-Locked Laser With Chirped InAs/InP Quantum Dot Active Layers

We demonstrate an ultrashort pulse and high power single-section mode-locked laser using chirped multiple InAs/InP quantum dot (QD) layers as the active region of the laser. The chirped QD active region consists of seven layers of InAs QDs of different heights, which is beneficial in broadening the material gain spectrum. A transform-limited Gaussian pulse with a pulse duration of 322 fs is obtained from a device of 1 mm in length. Moreover, the femtosecond pulse with highest peak power of 6.8 W is achieved for the 45.5-GHz mode-locked laser. These results show the potential of the mode-locked laser for femtosecond pulse generation with high peak power and high repetition rate in the 1.55- $\mu \text{m}$ wavelength band.

Generation regimes of bidirectional hybridly mode-locked ultrashort pulse erbium-doped all-fiber ring laser with a distributed polarizer.

We report on the stable picosecond and femtosecond pulse generation from the bidirectional erbium-doped all-fiber ring laser hybridly mode-locked with a coaction of a single-walled carbon nanotube-based saturable absorber and nonlinear polarization evolution that was introduced through the insertion of the short-segment polarizing fiber. Depending on the total intracavity dispersion value, the laser emits conservative solitons, transform-limited Gaussian pulses, or highly chirped stretched pulses with almost 20 nm wide parabolic spectrum in both clockwise (CW) and counterclockwise (CCW) directions of the ring. Owing to the polarizing action in the cavity, we have demonstrated for the first time, to the best of our knowledge, an efficient tuning of soliton pulse characteristics for both CW and CCW channels via an appropriate polarization control. We believe that the bidirectional laser presented may be highly promising for gyroscopic and other dual-channel applications.

25-GHz dual-wavelength pedestal-free pulse source based on single-driven dual-parallel Mach-Zehnder modulator and Mamyshev reshaper

A dual-wavelength optical Gaussian pulse generation scheme based on a single-driven dual-parallel Mach-Zehnder modulator with subsequent Mamyshev reshaping is proposed. Experimental results show that nearly chirp-free Gaussian pulses with a full width at half maximum of 2.7-ps and a repetition rate of 25-GHz on 2 wavelengths are achieved simultaneously. By changing the central wavelengths of the continuous wave light and the optical bandpass filter, nearly transform-limited optical Gaussian pulses are obtained over the C-band. The pulse source is further employed in a 100-Gbit/s on–off keying optical time division multiplexing transmission system. Error-free bit error rate performance is also achieved, which confirms the high pulse quality.

Energy-Efficient Optical Pulse Multiplication and Shaping Based on a Triply Sampled Filter Utilizing a Fiber Bragg Grating

An efficient method for simultaneous optical pulse multiplication and shaping is first proposed that is based on a triply sampled spectral filter utilizing a fiber Bragg grating. The proposed method enables efficient generation of an optical pulse train with a large multiplication factor and an arbitrary intensity profile. As examples, pulse trains with a repetition rate of 225 GHz and either a flat-top or triangular pulse waveform are numerically demonstrated, generated from a 1-GHz transform-limited Gaussian pulse train.

Transient-gain photoionization x-ray laser

We present a generalized theory based on one-dimensional Maxwell-Bloch equations to study the amplification process of an inner-shell photoionization-pumped atomic x-ray laser. Focusing an x-ray free-electron laser beam in an elongated neon-gas target results in a strong exponential amplification of $K\ensuremath{\alpha}$ fluorescence, as recently demonstrated [N. Rohringer et al., Nature (London) 481, 488 (2012); C. Weninger et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 111, 233902 (2013)]. Here, we present an in-depth theoretical study of the amplification process that goes beyond the previous theory based on a rate-equation approach. We study the evolution of the pulse characteristics during the amplification process for transform-limited Gaussian and broadband self-amplified spontaneous-emission pump pulses. We discuss the impact of the gain-dependent group velocity on the emitted x-ray radiation and the resulting gain-guiding effects. A thorough analysis of the spectral and temporal properties of the emitted radiation is presented, including higher-order field-correlation functions, to characterize the ensemble of emitted x-ray pulses.

Nonlinear Ionization of Molecules by Intense Transform-Limited Gaussian Laser Pulses

We present in this paper an investigation of the nonlinear process of above-threshold ionization. The process arises when an atomic or molecular system, exposed to an intense laser pulse, continues to absorb more photons than that needed for the ionization to occur. We trigger this nonlinear process in a simple molecular system by exposing it to an intense transform-limited Gaussian laser pulse of 267-nm wavelength which is the third harmonic of an 800-nm wavelength Tisapphire laser. We explore the characteristics of the process by analyzing the kinetic-energy spectra of the electrons ejected from the molecular system under different laser peak intensities.

Spectral and temporal holograms with nonlinear optics

In this Letter we show how encoding techniques for computer-generated holograms may be used to arbitrarily shape a nonlinearly generated spectrum and consequently the temporal shape by modulating the quadratic nonlinear coefficient. We give examples of a modulation pattern and a simple setup that can generate high-order Hermite-Gauss and Airy functions through difference-frequency generation from a transform-limited Gaussian pulse, under practical fabrication considerations.

Compressor optimization with compressor-based multiphoton intrapulse interference phase scan (MIIPS)

The multiphoton intrapulse interference phase scan (MIIPS) technique is modified to optimize the compressor settings of a chirped pulse amplification (CPA) laser system. Here, we use the compressor itself to perform the phase scan inherent in MIIPS measurement . A frequency-resolved optical gating measurement shows that the pulse duration of the compressor optimized using the modified MIIPS technique is 33.8 fs with a 2.24 rad temporal phase variation above 2% intensity. The measured time-bandwidth product is 0.60, which is close to that of transform-limited Gaussian pulse (0.44).

Effects of chirp and pulse shape on high harmonic generation and absorption in overdense plasmas

AbstractUsing particle-in-cell simulations, we investigated the effect of group velocity dispersion (GVD) and third order dispersion (TOD) in the laser pulse on high-order harmonic generation and laser absorption in overdense plasmas. A 1020 W/cm−2, 35-fs transform-limited Gaussian pulse was stretched to 160 fs through chirping. When including GVD alone, the temporal pulse shape remains symmetric and no difference was seen in the harmonic spectra for opposite signs of GVD. However, when adding TOD to GVD, the pulse is no longer symmetric and noticeable differences in harmonics intensity were observed for opposite signs of TOD. We show that the higher harmonic intensity obtained with positive TOD is connected with a steeper front edge of the pulse and the appearance of strong modulations in the harmonic spectrum. The chirp broadens and shifts the harmonics. Laser energy absorption is also mostly affected by the pulse shape. Simple estimates indicate that, in the main example considered in this paper, about half the laser energy absorption (10%) is due to vacuum heating.

Impact of the second order dispersion on compensation of SPM in an adaptive pulse pre-shaping quasi-CPA system

A model of quasi-CPA (chirped pulse amplification) system, in which the input is the transform-limited Gaussian pulses, is set up numerically to investigate the impact of the second order dispersion on the adaptive compensation of self-phase modulation (SPM) effect. The adaptive phase pre-shaping controlled by differential evolution algorithm is introduced to the input pulse before amplification and recompression. With maximizing the peak power of the output pulse, the simulation results show that the normal dispersion is really helpful to eliminate the side lobes of the output pulse and increase the pulse peak power.

Subpicosecond Pulse Generation at Quasi-40-GHz Using a Passively Mode-Locked AlGaInAs–InP 1.55-$\mu{\hbox {m}}$ Strained Quantum-Well Laser

We report on subpicosecond pulse generation using passively mode-locked laser diodes based on AlGaInAs 1.55-mum strained multiquantum-wells. Without any external pulse compression, the nearly transform-limited Gaussian pulses are generated at the quasi-40-GHz repetition rate with the 700-fs pulse duration.

10-GHz 11.5-ps Pulse Generation From a Single-Mode Gain-Switched InGaAs VCSEL at 1.1 $\mu$m

We have successfully generated a 10-GHz 11.5-ps pulse train at 1.1 mum by using a gain switching technique with a high-speed and single-mode vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL). The InGaAs-based VCSEL we used had a sidemode suppression ratio of more than 50 dB and a modulation bandwidth of 7.2 GHz. A nearly transform-limited Gaussian pulse was obtained after chirp compensation, and the repetition rate can be increased up to 16 GHz. We also demonstrated a 10-Gb/s return-to-zero data modulation for the generated 10-GHz pulse train.

312-fs pulse generation from a passive C-band InAs/InP quantum dot mode-locked laser

For the first time, we report femtosecond pulses from a passive single-section InAs/InP quantum-dot (QD) mode-locked laser (MLL) with the active length of 456 microm and ridge width of 2.5 microm at the C-band wavelength range. Without any external pulse compression, the transform-limited Gaussian-pulses are generated at the 92 GHz repetition rate with the 312 fs pulse duration, which is the shortest pulse from any directly electric-pumping semiconductor MLLs to our best knowledge. The lasing threshold injection current and external differential quantum efficiency are 17.2 mA and 38%, respectively. We have also investigated the working principles of the proposed QD MLLs.

Long All-Active Monolithic Mode-Locked Lasers With Surface-Etched Bragg Gratings

We have fabricated 4.4-mm-long monolithic InAlGaAsP-InP mode-locked lasers with integrated deeply surface etched distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) mirrors. The lasers produce 3.7-ps transform-limited Gaussian pulses with 10-mW average output power and 250-fs absolute timing jitter. The performance of the DBR lasers is compared to the performance of Fabry-Perot mode-locked lasers from the same wafer and to the performance of earlier reported long monolithic DBR mode-locked lasers and is found to be better.

Source linewidth effects in temporal imaging of Gaussian Schell-model pulses

A transform-limited Gaussian pulse generated from an externally modulated stationary source is launched within a temporal imaging system composed of a second-order dispersion followed by a time lens and a subsequent quadratic dispersion. We consider the effect of the statistical properties of the emitted light for temporal imaging. In particular, it is shown that the design parameters that ensure a received signal with the minimum root-mean-square (rms) width achievable, which is called the temporal image of the incident pulse, are strongly dependent on the coherence properties of the input waveform. Finally, limitations on the temporal resolution of the setup are highlighted and a realistic numerical example is provided.

40-GHz Mode-Locked Fiber-Ring Laser Using a Mach–Zehnder Interferometer With Integrated SOAs

A 40-GHz mode-locked fiber-ring laser based on an optically controlled modulator is presented and analyzed in detail. The modulator is a monolithic InGaAsP-InP Mach-Zehnder interferometer with integrated semiconductor optical amplifiers, which allows optical pulse generation synchronized to an external optical clock pulse stream. The laser generates nearly transform-limited Gaussian pulses of 2.5-ps width and up to 9-mW mean output power with less than 130 fs of timing jitter, and it is wavelength tunable over more than 30 nm. The relationship between key laser parameters and the output pulse characteristics is analyzed experimentally and numerically. An improved cavity design permits the generation of shorter pulses of 1.0-ps width.

Modeling and Optimization of RMS Pulse Width for Transmission in Dispersive Nonlinear Fibers

Simple algebraic expressions are derived to approximate the optimal input RMS pulse width and the resulting output RMS pulse width in single-mode fibers. The results are compared with the previously published methods and with numerical results by the split-step Fourier method. In addition, for a transform-limited Gaussian input pulse, it is shown that there is no optimum input pulse width to minimize the output spectrum width. Finally, with fiber nonlinearity, it is shown mathematically that there is not an optimum input pulse width to minimize the product,<TEX>${\sigma}_t{\sigma}_{\omega}$</TEX>, which is inversely proportional to the transmission capacity of WDM systems.

On the designing of densely dispersion-managed optical fiber systems for ultrafast optical communication

We present some theoretical and experimental results which suggest the possibility of constructing a non-empirical methodology of designing optical transmission systems with ultra high bit-rate per channel. Theoretically, we present an average dispersion decreasing densely dispersion-managed (A4dm) fiber system, which exhibits many advantages over the densely dispersion-managed fiber system, such as the possibility of transmitting chirp-free Gaussian pulses at 160 Gbit/s per channel over transoceanic distances, with a reduced energy and minimal intra-channel interaction. Experimentally we present generation of a 160-GHz picosecond pulse train at 1550 nm using multiple four-wave mixing temporal compression of an initial dual frequency beat signal in the anomalous-dispersion regime of a non-zero dispersion shifted fiber. A complete intensity and phase characterization of the pulse train by means of a frequency-resolved optical gating technique is achieved, showing generation of transform-limited pedestal-free Gaussian pulses.