Optical pulse generation using soliton-assisted time-lens compression

Abstract

A simple, stable, and tunable optical pulse source emitting 3.2 ps pulses at a 10 GHz repetition rate is presented. The pulses are obtained through soliton-assisted time-lens compression in a standard single mode fiber, and are fully characterized by wavelength-conversion frequency-resolved optical gating. The use of nonlinear effects relaxes the constraint of the high driving voltage on the phase modulator usually required in this type of source.