Apparatus for modulating one or both of spectral phase and amplitude of an optical signal
First Claim
1. An apparatus for modulating spectral phase and spectral amplitude of a received optical signal, comprising:
- a spatial dispersion mechanism for spatially dispersing a received optical signal into a plurality of spatially dispersed signal components;
a modulating mechanism comprising a plurality of modulating component sets, each modulating component set having associated adjacent modulating components operable for adapting relative phases of respective portions of one of the spatially dispersed signal components, the phase-adapted portions of the spatially dispersed signal component being adapted for modulating spectral phase of the spatially dispersed signal component; and
a spatial filtering mechanism adapted for destructively interfering the phase-adapted portions of the spatially dispersed signal component for modulating spectral amplitude of the spatially dispersed signal component.
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Abstract
The invention includes a method and apparatus for modulating one or both of spectral phase and amplitude of a received optical signal. The apparatus includes a spatial dispersion mechanism for spatially dispersing the received optical signal to enable optical communication of the received optical signal to an array of modulators. The apparatus includes a modulating mechanism having a first modulating component and a second modulating component. A first portion of the spatially dispersed optical signal is incident on the first modulating component and a second portion of the spatially dispersed optical signal is incident on the second modulating portion. The apparatus further includes a controller coupled to the modulating mechanism. The controller is adapted for moving the first and second modulating components in a direction normal to their planes for modulating one or both of phase and amplitude of the received optical signal.
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Citations
19 Claims
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1. An apparatus for modulating spectral phase and spectral amplitude of a received optical signal, comprising:
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a spatial dispersion mechanism for spatially dispersing a received optical signal into a plurality of spatially dispersed signal components; a modulating mechanism comprising a plurality of modulating component sets, each modulating component set having associated adjacent modulating components operable for adapting relative phases of respective portions of one of the spatially dispersed signal components, the phase-adapted portions of the spatially dispersed signal component being adapted for modulating spectral phase of the spatially dispersed signal component; and a spatial filtering mechanism adapted for destructively interfering the phase-adapted portions of the spatially dispersed signal component for modulating spectral amplitude of the spatially dispersed signal component. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. An apparatus, comprising:
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a spatial dispersion mechanism for spatially dispersing an optical signal into a plurality of frequency components; an array of optical reflector sets, each optical reflector set having a plurality of adjacent optical reflectors, wherein each optical reflector in each optical reflector set is normally disposed in a substantially co-planar manner with respect to one of the frequency components, and respective portions of the one frequency component are incident on respective adjacent optical reflectors of the optical reflector set, wherein each optical reflector in each optical reflector set is controllably moveable in a direction normal to its plane to adapt thereby a relative phase of each respective portion of the incident frequency component for modulating spectral phase of the incident frequency component; and a spatial filtering mechanism adapted for destructively interfering the phase-adapted portions of the incident frequency component for modulating the spectral amplitude of the incident frequency component. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. An apparatus for modulating one or both of spectral phase and spectral amplitude of a received optical signal, comprising:
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a spatial dispersion mechanism for spatially dispersing the received optical signal; and a modulating mechanism comprising a plurality of modulating component arrays having respective pluralities of modulating components, respective portions of the spatially dispersed optical signal being incident on associated ones of the modulating components;
whereinthe associated ones of the modulating components are adjacent in a direction normal to a dispersion direction of the spatially dispersed optical signal; and the associated ones of the modulating components are operable for adapting respective phases of the incident portions of the spatially dispersed optical signal, the phase-adapted portions of the spatially dispersed optical signal adaptable for modulating one or both of spectral phase and spectral amplitude of the received optical signal. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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Specification