System and method for programmable polarization-independent phase compensation of optical signals
First Claim
1. A system for programmably adjusting the phase of the frequency components of an optical signal of arbitrary polarization, comprising:
- a first dispersive module arranged to receive and disperse the optical signal into its frequency components;
a polarization-independent spatial light modulator (PI-SLM) having an active area comprising a plurality of independently programmable addressable regions, the PI-SLM arranged to receive the frequency components on the active area; and
a controller coupled to the PI-SLM wherein during operation the controller causes the PI-SLM to independently adjust the phase of one or more of the frequency components.
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Abstract
A system and method for programmable phase compensation of optical signals is disclosed. The systems and methods include the use of a polarization-independent spatial light modulator (PI-SLM), so that the state of polarization (SOP) of the incoming optical signal need not be known. The system includes a first dispersive module that spatially separates the optical signal into its frequency components. The frequency components are spread over the active area of the PI-SLM. The active area of the PI-SLM includes an array of independently programmable addressable regions capable of altering the phase of the light incident thereon. An exemplary application of the invention is chromatic dispersion compensation. By knowing the amount of chromatic dispersion in the optical signal, or alternatively, by knowing the amount of chromatic dispersion to be introduced into the optical signal downstream, the appropriate phase adjustments can be made to each frequency component of the signal. The phase-adjusted frequency components are then recombined via a second dispersive module to form a compensated optical signal.
46 Citations
58 Claims
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1. A system for programmably adjusting the phase of the frequency components of an optical signal of arbitrary polarization, comprising:
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a first dispersive module arranged to receive and disperse the optical signal into its frequency components;
a polarization-independent spatial light modulator (PI-SLM) having an active area comprising a plurality of independently programmable addressable regions, the PI-SLM arranged to receive the frequency components on the active area; and
a controller coupled to the PI-SLM wherein during operation the controller causes the PI-SLM to independently adjust the phase of one or more of the frequency components. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. An optical processing system for at least partially pre-compensating an optical signal for chromatic dispersion effects present in a downstream optical system, the system comprising:
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a first dispersive module positioned to receive the optical signal and spatially separate frequency components of the optical signal;
a polarization-independent spatial light modulator (PI-SLM) having an active area comprising a plurality of independently programmable addressable regions, the PI-SLM arranged to receive the spatially separated frequency components on the active area; and
a controller coupled to the PI-SLM and configured to receive a compensation signal indicative of the chromatic dispersion effects in the downstream optical system that allows for the PI-SLM to independently adjust the phase of one or more addressable regions in order to at least partially compensate the optical signal for chromatic dispersion of the downstream optical system. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31)
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32. An optical processing system for at least partially post-compensating an optical signal for chromatic dispersion effects present in an upstream optical system, the system comprising:
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a first dispersive module positioned to receive the optical signal and spatially separate frequency components of the optical signal;
a polarization-independent spatial light modulator (PI-SLM) having an active area comprising a plurality of independently programmable addressable regions, the PI-SLM arranged to receive the spatially separated frequency components on the active area; and
a controller coupled to the PI-SLM and configured to receive a compensation signal indicative of the chromatic dispersion effects in the upstream optical system that allows for the PI-SLM to independently adjust the phase of one or more addressable regions in order to at least partially compensate the optical signal for chromatic dispersion of the upstream optical system. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34)
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35. A method of programmably adjusting the phase of the frequency components of an optical signal of arbitrary polarization, comprising:
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spatially dispersing frequency components of the optical signal onto a polarization-independent spatial light modulator (PI-SLM) over an active area having a plurality of independently programmable addressable regions; and
independently adjusting one or more of the addressable regions to alter the phase of the corresponding frequency components incident thereon. - View Dependent Claims (36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50)
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51. A method of reducing the chromatic dispersion in optical signals traveling in different WDM channels in a multiplexed optical signal, comprising:
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demultiplexing the optical signals in the multiplexed optical signal; and
performing chromatic dispersion compensation for each channel optical signal by spatially dispersing frequency components of each channel optical signal onto a polarization-independent spatial light modulator (PI-SLM) over an active area having a plurality of independently programmable addressable regions, and independently adjusting one or more of the addressable regions to alter the phase of the corresponding frequency components incident thereon, and then recombining the phase-altered components to form a compensated channel optical signal. - View Dependent Claims (52, 53, 54, 55)
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56. A method of programmably adjusting the phase of the frequency components of an optical signal of arbitrary polarization over a short optical path, comprising:
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spatially dispersing frequency components of the optical signal onto a polarization-independent spatial light modulator (PI-SLM) over an active area having a dimension of 5 mm or less and a plurality of independently programmable addressable regions within the active area; and
independently adjusting one or more of the addressable regions to alter the phase of the corresponding frequency components incident thereon. - View Dependent Claims (57, 58)
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Specification