On-chip optical pulse shaper for arbitrary waveform generation

We propose and demonstrate a silicon-on-insulator （SOI） on-chip optical pulse shaper based on four-tap finite impulse response. Due to different width designs in phase region of each tap, the phase differences for all taps are controlled by an external thermal source, resulting in an optical pulse shaper. We further demonstrate optical arbitrary waveform generation based on the optical pulse shaper assisted by an optical frequency comb injection. Four different optical waveforms are generated when setting the central wavelengths at 1533.78 nm and 1547.1 nm and setting the thermal source temperatures at 23 ℃ and 33 ℃, respectively. Our scheme has distinct advantages of compactness, capability for integrating with electronics since the integrated silicon waveguide is employed.

Optical pulse shaper with integrated slab waveguide for arbitrary waveform generation using optical gradient force

Integrated optical pulse shaper opens up possibilities for realizing the ultra high-speed and ultra wide-band linear signal processing with compact size and low power consumption. We propose a silicon monolithic integrated optical pulse shaper using optical gradient force, which is based on the eight-path finite impulse response. A cantilever structure is fabricated in one arm of the Mach–Zehnder interferometer（MZI） to act as an amplitude modulator. The phase shift feature of waveguide is analyzed with the optical pump power, and five typical waveforms are demonstrated with the manipulation of optical force. Unlike other pulse shaper schemes based on thermo–optic effect or electro–optic effect, our scheme is based on a new degree of freedom manipulation, i.e., optical force, so no microelectrodes are required on the silicon chip,which can reduce the complexity of fabrication. Besides, the chip structure is suitable for commercial silicon on an insulator（SOI） wafer, which has a top silicon layer of about 220 nm in thickness.

Switchable down-,up-and dual-chirped microwave waveform generation with improved time–bandwidth product based on polarization modulation and phase encoding

A switchable down-,up-and dual-chirped microwave waveform generation technique with improved time–bandwidth product(TBWP)is proposed and demonstrated based on a dual-polarization dual-parallel Mach–Zehnder modulator(DPDPMZM)cascaded with a polarization modulator(Pol M).By properly controlling the phase shifts of the radio frequency signals applied to the DP-DPMZM,switchable down-,up-and dual-chirped waveforms with simultaneous frequency and bandwidth doubling can be generated.To enlarge the TBWP further,splitting parabolic signal and phase-encoding splitting parabolic signal are used to drive the Pol M for the enhancement of bandwidth and time duration.Numerical results demonstrate the generation of down-,up-and dual-chirped microwave waveform with TBWP of 8,160 and 10240.The proposed method may find applications in future multifunction radar systems due to the high performance and flexibility.

Photonic generation of arbitrary waveforms based on incoherent wavelength-to-time mapping

We demonstrate experimentally a radio frequency arbitrary waveform generator using the incoherent wavelength-to-time mapping technique. The system is implemented by amplitude modulation of a broadband optical resource whose spectrum is reshaped by a programmable optical pulse shaper and transmitted over a single mode fiber link. The shape of the generated waveform is controlled by the optical pulse shaper, and the fiber link introduces a certain group velocity delay to implement wavelength-to-time mapping. Assisted by the flexible optical pulse shaper, we obtain different shapes of optical waveforms, such as rectangle, triangle, and sawtooth waveforms. Furthermore, we also demonstrate ultra-wideband generation, such as Gaussian monocycle, doublet, and triplet waveforms, using the incoherent technique.

Recent progresses on optical arbitrary waveform generation

This paper reviews recent progresses on optical arbitrary waveform generation （AWG） techniques, which could be used to break the speed and bandwidth bottle- necks of electronics technologies for waveform generation. The main enabling techniques for optically generating optical and microwave waveforms are introduced and reviewed in this paper, such as wavelength-to-time mapping techniques, space-to-time mapping techniques, temporal pulse shaping （TPS） system, optoelectronics oscillator （OEO）, programmable optical filters, optical differentiator and integrator and versatile electro-optic modulation implementations. The main advantages and challenges of these optical AWG techniques are also discussed.

Radio-frequency arbitrary waveform generation based on dispersion compensated tunable optoelectronic oscillator with ultra-wide tunability

Photonic generation of radio-frequency（RF） arbitrary microwave waveform with ultra-wide frequency tunable range based on a dispersion compensated optoelectronic oscillator（OEO） is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. Dispersion compensation scheme and specially designed fiber Bragg grating（FBG）-based Fabry-Perot（F-P） filters are employed in the OEO loop to realize a frequency tunable range of 3.5-45.4 GHz. An optimization process provided by the combination of an erbium-doped fiber amplifier（EDFA）and FBG is employed to improve the signal-to-noise ratio（SNR） of final RF signals. The generation of linearfrequency and phase-coded microwave waveforms, with a tunable carrier frequency ranging from 4 to 45 GHz and tuned chirping bandwidths or code rates, is experimentally demonstrated.

Optimization of multi-color laser waveform for high-order harmonic generation

With the development of laser technologies,multi-color light-field synthesis with complete amplitude and phase control would make it possible to generate arbitrary optical waveforms.A practical optimization algorithm is needed to generate such a waveform in order to control strong-field processes.We review some recent theoretical works of the optimization of amplitudes and phases of multi-color lasers to modify the single-atom high-order harmonic generation based on genetic algorithm.By choosing different fitness criteria,we demonstrate that：（i） harmonic yields can be enhanced by 10 to 100 times,（ii） harmonic cutoff energy can be substantially extended,（iii） specific harmonic orders can be selectively enhanced,and（iv） single attosecond pulses can be efficiently generated.The possibility of optimizing macroscopic conditions for the improved phase matching and low divergence of high harmonics is also discussed.The waveform control and optimization are expected to be new drivers for the next wave of breakthrough in the strong-field physics in the coming years.

Microwave Photonics for Modern Radar Systems

The emerging new concepts and technologies based on microwave photonics have led to an ever-increasing interest in developing innovative radar systems with a net gain in functionality,bandwidth /resolution,size,mass,complexity and cost when compared with the traditional implementations. This paper describes the techniques developed in the last few years in microwave photonics that might revolutionize the way to design multifunction radar systems,with an emphasis on the recent advances in optoelectronic oscillators( OEOs),arbitrary waveform generation,photonic mixing,phase coding,filtering,beamforming,analog-to-digital conversion,and stable radio-frequency signal transfer. Challenges in implementation of these components and subsystems for meeting the technique requirements of the multifunction radar applications are discussed.

Improving the intensity and efficiency of compressed echo in rare-earth-ion-doped crystal

We investigate the intensity and efficiency of a compressed echo, which is important in arbitrary waveform generation（AWG）. A new model of compressed echo is proposed based on the optical Bloch equations, which exposes much more detailed parameters than the conventional model, such as the time delay of the chirp lasers, the nature of the rare-earth-iondoped crystal, etc. According to the novel model of compressed echo, we find that reducing the time delay of the chirp lasers and scanning the lasers around the center frequency of the inhomogeneously broadened spectrum, while utilizing a crystal with larger coherence time and excitation lifetime can improve the compressed echo＇s intensity and efficiency. The theoretical analysis is validated by numerical simulations.