Tera-sample-per-second single-shot device analyzer

Abstract

With the ever-increasing need for bandwidth in data centers and 5G mobile communications, technologies for rapid characterization of wide-band devices are in high demand. We report an instrument for extremely fast characterization of the electronic and optoelectronic devices with 27 ns frequency-response acquisition time at the effective sampling rate of 2.5 Tera-sample/s and an ultra-low effective timing jitter of 5.4 fs. This instrument features automated digital signal processing algorithms including time-series segmentation and frame alignment, impulse localization and Tikhonov regularized deconvolution for single-shot impulse and frequency response measurements. The system is based on the photonic time-stretch and features phase diversity to eliminate frequency fading and extend the bandwidth of the instrument.