Generation of subpicosecond solitonlike optical pulses at 0.3 THz repetition rate by induced modulational instability

Abstract

We report the generation of 0.5 ps full width at half-maximum optical pulses at >0.3 THz (tunable) repetition rate via an induced modulational instability in a single-mode fiber. A 1.319-μm neodymium:yttrium aluminum garnet laser is chosen as the carrier wave and the initial modulation on this carrier is introduced by mixing it with an external-grating-cavity InGaAsP laser. The use of this all-optical modulating scheme and the nonlinear optical propagation effect in fiber (i.e., modulational instability) allows one to reach into the terahertz regime, which is about two orders of magnitude beyond the fastest data limited by the finite response of electronics.