Method and system for generating a broadband spectral continuum and continuous wave-generating system utilizing same
First Claim
1. A method for generating a broadband spectral continuum, the method comprising the steps of:
- generating soliton pulses at a repetition rate greater than or equal to 1 Gb/s;
compressing the higher-order soliton pulses in a temporal domain through soliton-effect compression to obtain compressed soliton pulses having a spectrum; and
breaking up the compressed soliton pulses to shape the spectrum of the compressed soliton pulses through higher order dispersion effects and self-phase modulation to obtain the broadband spectral continuum, the continuum having a plurality of substantially uniform longitudinal modes each of which is a narrow band continuous wave in the time domain and wherein the modes are spectrally spaced based on the repetition rate.
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Abstract
Method and system are disclosed for stable, multi-wavelength continuous wave (CW) generation using fiber-based supercontinuum and spectrum-slicing of its longitudinal modes. The continuum generated is coherent and stable, making it an attractive alternative as a spectrally-sliced source for continuous, multiple wavelength channels. A 140 nm wide supercontinuum with a 10 GHz repetition rate is generated in <30 meters of fiber. To obtain CW channels with 40 GHz spacing, time-domain multiplexing and longitudinal mode slicing are utilized. To obtain stable, continuous wave operation, short-fiber supercontinuum generation and a pulse interleaving method are utilized. The invention may be utilized as a broadband wavelength-division multiplexed source.
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Citations
39 Claims
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1. A method for generating a broadband spectral continuum, the method comprising the steps of:
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generating soliton pulses at a repetition rate greater than or equal to 1 Gb/s;
compressing the higher-order soliton pulses in a temporal domain through soliton-effect compression to obtain compressed soliton pulses having a spectrum; and
breaking up the compressed soliton pulses to shape the spectrum of the compressed soliton pulses through higher order dispersion effects and self-phase modulation to obtain the broadband spectral continuum, the continuum having a plurality of substantially uniform longitudinal modes each of which is a narrow band continuous wave in the time domain and wherein the modes are spectrally spaced based on the repetition rate. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A system for generating broadband spectral continuum, the system comprising:
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a soliton pulse generator including a single laser for generating soliton pulses at a repetition rate greater than or equal to 1 Gb/s; and
an optical fiber including at least one pulse compression stage for compressing the soliton pulses through soliton-effect compression to obtain compressed soliton pulses having a spectrum, the optical fiber further including a spectral shaping stage optically coupled to the at least one pulse compression stage for breaking up the compressed soliton pulses adjacent an output end of the fiber to shape the spectrum of the compressed soliton pulses through higher order dispersion effects and self-phase modulation to obtain the broadband spectral continuum, the continuum having a plurality of substantially uniform longitudinal modes each of which is a narrow band continuous wave in the time domain and wherein the modes are spectrally spaced based on the repetition rate. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 37, 38, 39)
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20. A system for generating narrow band, continuous waves (CW) substantially simultaneously on multiple CW channels at multiple wavelengths and with channel spacing of at least 1 GHz, the system comprising:
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a soliton pulse generator including a single laser for generating soliton pulses at a repetition rate greater than or equal to 1 Gb/s;
an optical fiber including at least one pulse compression stage and a spectral shaping stage, the at least one pulse compression stage receiving the soliton pulses at a first end of the fiber and the spectral shaping stage generating a broadband spectral continuum within the fiber and providing the broadband spectral continuum at a second end of the fiber, the continuum having a plurality of substantially uniform longitudinal modes each of which is a narrow band continuous wave in the time domain and wherein the modes are spectrally spaced based on the repetition rate; and
at least one optical filter coupled to the second end of the fiber for spectrally-slicing the longitudinal modes from the broadband spectral continuum to obtain the continuous waves. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
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Specification