M.J. Garde

Optical carrier-suppression technique with a Brillouin-erbium fiber laser.

We demonstrate a new concept in optical carrier control that uses a simple arrangement based on a hybrid Brillouin-erbium fiber laser. The system offers precise tunable control of the optical carrier amplitude independently of the characteristics of the transmitter or the optical modulation format. As much as 55 dB of carrier attenuation is demonstrated, which to our knowledge is the highest reported attenuation for a carrier-suppression system.

Optical carrier Brillouin processing of microwave photonic signals

We introduce a novel concept in Brillouin signal processing based on modification of the optical carriers magnitude and phase by stimulated Brillouin scattering-induced depletion. The technique offers wideband processing and low noise and requires only low optical power. Application to the enhancement of a 25-km high-frequency analog link is experimentally demonstrated and yields a 6.5-GHz bandwidth extension and a 13-dB reduction in the link insertion loss without intermodulation distortion.

Modeling and Testing of Uniform Fiber Bragg Gratings Using 1-D Photonic Bandgap Structures in Microstrip Technology

A way to model and test fiber gratings and fiber grating-based systems in the microwave range is proposed. The method rests on the equivalence relationship found between a fiber grating and a one-dimensional microstrip photonic bandgap structure that consists of a periodic pattern of circles etched in its ground plane. The equivalence assures that the frequency-response of the fiber grating is an upshifted replica of the corresponding frequency to its equivalent microstrip device. Both apodized and nonapodized uniform fiber gratings have been considered and the feasibility of the proposed method has been shown in simulation and measurement.A way to model and test fiber gratings and fiber grating-based systems in the microwave range is proposed. The method rests on the equivalence relationship found between a fiber grating and a one-dimensional microstrip photonic bandgap structure that consists of a periodic pattern of circles etched in its ground plane. The equivalence assures that the frequency-response of the fiber grating is an upshifted replica of the corresponding frequency to its equivalent microstrip device. Both apodized and nonapodized uniform fiber gratings have been considered and the feasibility of the proposed method has been shown in simulation and measurement.

WDM compatible and electrically tunable SPE-OCDMA system based on the temporal self-imaging effect

A coding/decoding setup for a spectral phase encoding optical code-division multiple access (SPE-OCDMA) system has been developed. The proposal is based on the temporal self-imaging effect and the use of an easily tunable electro-optic phase modulator to achieve line-by-line coding of the transmitted signal, thus assuring compatibility with WDM techniques. Modulation of the code is performed at the same rate as the data, avoiding the use of high-bandwidth electro-optic modulators. As proof of concept of the technique, experimental results are presented for a back-to-back coder/decoder setup transmitting a 10 GHz unmodulated optical pulse train within an 80 GHz optical window and using 8-chip Hadamard codes.

Third order dispersion compensation of linearly chirped Bragg gratings

The problem of cubic dispersion of linearly chirped Bragg gratings has been discussed. A new system for compensation of this third order dispersion was proposed and numerically analyzed.

Temporal self-imaging effect for periodically modulated trains of pulses

In this paper, the mathematical description of the temporal self-imaging effect is studied, focusing on the situation in which the train of pulses to be dispersed has been previously periodically modulated in phase and amplitude. It is demonstrated that, for each input pulse and for some specific values of the chromatic dispersion, a subtrain of optical pulses is generated whose envelope is determined by the Discrete Fourier Transform of the modulating coefficients. The mathematical results are confirmed by simulations of various examples and some limits on the realization of the theory are commented.

Experimental Electrically Reconfigurable Time-Domain Spectral Amplitude Encoding/Decoding in an Optical Code Division Multiple Access System

Abstract An electrically reconfigurable time-domain spectral amplitude encoding/decoding scheme is proposed herein. The setup is based on the concept of temporally pulse shaping dual to spatial arrangements. The transmitter is based on a short pulse source and uses two conjugate dispersive fiber gratings and an electro-optic intensity modulator placed in between. Proof of concept results are shown for an optical pulse train operating at 1.25 Gbps using codes from the Hadamard family with a length of eight chips. The system is electrically reconfigurable, compatible with fiber systems, and permits scalability in the size of the codes by modifying only the modulator velocity.

Linearization of electro-optic modulators at millimeter-wave frequencies

We have demonstrated the feasibility of the bidirectional dual parallel linearization technique for reduction of the intermodulation distortion in broadband systems at millimetre-wave frequencies. Moreover, we have shown that the performance can be enhanced reducing the ripple level in the frequency responses. The technique offers less complexity than the standard dual parallel technique and can operate at higher frequencies thanks to the use of a single modulator which allows close control of the frequency responses of the two signal paths.

Optical signal processing with electrooptic modulators and dispersion

A review of the main techniques that have been proposed for temporal processing of optical pulses that are the counterpart of the well-known spatial arrangements will be presented. They are translated to the temporal domain via the space-time duality and implemented with electrooptical phase and amplitude modulators and dispersive devices. We will introduce new variations of the conventional approaches and we will focus on their application to optical communications systems.

Optical Code Division Multiple Access coder/decoder pairs based on temporal optical pulse shaping with fiber Bragg Gratings and electrooptic modulators

This paper presents recent proposals that have been made in the field of optical pulse shaping techniques based on the space-time duality, with an especial attention to their application for the design of encoder/decoder pairs in all-fibre Optical Code Division Multiple Access (OCDMA) systems. Two different proposals are presented, one based on an Optical Fourier Transformer using a dispersive media and the other based on the temporal self-imaging effect. Fiber Bragg Gratings are used as dispersive elements and electro-optic modulators for the amplitude or phase coding, allowing the electrical reconfiguration of the codes. Experimental results, both for coherent and incoherent schemes, are shown for the two systems transmitting at data rates of 1.25 Gbps and 10 Gbps respectively with a fixed codification rate of 10 Gcps and using a subset of the Hadamard codes with a length of 8 chips.