Peter Delfyett Seminar: Ultrafast Coherent Optical Signal Processing Using Stabilized Optical Frequency Combs From Mode-Locked Semiconductor Diode Lasers

Ultrafast Coherent Optical Signal
Processing using Stabilized Optical

Frequency Combs from Mode-
locked Diode Lasers
Peter J. Delfyett
CREOL, The College of Optics and Photonics, University of Central Florida, Orlando,
Florida 32816-2700
delfyett@creol.ucf.edu

University of California
Santa Barbara, CA
December 5, 2012
2
Outline
Motivation Background

Key Technologies
Stabilized Optical Frequency Combs
Arcsine Phase & Linear Intensity Modulators w/ Comb Filter
Direct Phase Detection (w/o external local oscillator) w/ Comb Filter

Applications
Arbitrary Waveform Measurements
Arbitrary Waveform Generation
Pattern Recognition using Matched Filtering Techniques

Summary and Conclusions
3
Motivation
Why Diode Based Fiber Lasers?
Diode lasers are small (100s microns), electrically efficient
(>70%), wavelength agile (300 nm to >10 microns via
bandgap engineering).
Robust, no moving / mechanical parts
Broad bandwidth potential for large tuning bandwidth.
Operates over very broad temperature ranges.
Cost effective, direct electrically (battery) pumped.
Can engineer the cavity Q to be >> than conventional cavities
Potential for photonic integrated circuits, e.g., electronics,
lasers, modulators & detectors full functioning
optoelectronic systems on a chip
computing & signal processing at the speed of light!
4
Ultrawideband Communications
Synthetic Aperture Imaging Sensing, Detecting and Response
Applications Enabled By Optical Frequency Combs
Advanced Waveform Generation/Measurement
5
Time Interleaved Pulse Trains Time Overlaid Pulse Trains
Interleaved Supermode Spectra Overlaid Supermode Spectra
~

P
o
w
e
r

Time
P
o
w
e
r

Optical Frequency
A
m
p
l
i
t
u
d
e

Time
P
o
w
e
r

P
o
w
e
r

Time
~

~

Optical Frequency
t
A
m
p
l
i
t
u
d
e

P
o
w
e
r
Time
e
iet

e
ie2t

E(e-Ae)
E(e-2Ae)
E(e)
2t
P
o
w
e
r

e
itAe

e
it2At

t
f
ML

c/L
T
C
=L/c
c/L
f
ML

T= 1/f
ML

A
1
=1
A
2
=1
A
3
=0.5
Harmonic Modelocked Lasers
Schematic Representations
6
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200
0
50
100
150
200
250
Intensity of Optical Pulse Train
Time
I
n
t
e
n
s
i
t
y
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000
195
200
205
210
215
220
225
230
235
Intensity of Optical Pulse Train
Time
I
n
t
e
n
s
i
t
y
210 220 230 240 250 260 270 280 290 300 310
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1
Optical Spectrum of Pulse Train
Frequency
W
a
t
t
s
/
H
z
20 40 60 80 100 120 140
-80
-60
-40
-20
0
20
RF Power Spectrum of Pulse Train
Frequency
d
B
/
H
z
Supermode Noise Spurs
(a)
(c)
(b)
(d)
Optical Pulse Train Intensity Optical Pulse Train Intensity
Optical Spectrum of Pulse Train
RF Power Spectrum of Pulse Train
7
Low Noise Modelocked Diode Lasers
Via
Stabilization of the Frequency Comb
8
Fundamentally Modelocked Lasers
~

Time
Optical Frequency
f
mod
=c/L
=10 GHz
L
c/L
T=100 ps
~
P
o
w
e
r

P
o
w
e
r

Log Frequency
RF Power Spectrum
Corner frequency moves to
large offset frequencies w/ short cavities
1 pulse in the cavity
Corner
Frequency
SOA
System Noise Floor
RF Power Spectrum
Frequency
9
Harmonically Modelocked Lasers
Time
Optical Frequency
f
mod
=Nc/L
=10 GHz
L
c/L
T=100 ps
~

~
SOA
P
o
w
e
r

P
o
w
e
r

Log Frequency
RF Power Spectrum
Supermodes
System Noise Floor
Example: Ring Laser
Mode Spacing=10 MHz
f
mod
= 10 GHz
N=1000
N pulses in the cavity
N Independent longitudinal
mode groups
Coupled Modes
Corner
Frequency
10GHz
RF Power Spectrum
10
Harmonic Modelocking & Supermode
Suppression
F
mod
=nc/L
= 10GHz
L
T=100 psec
~
Time
Optical Frequency
10GHz
T=100 psec
~

P
o
w
e
r

P
o
w
e
r

Time
Optical Frequency
10GHz
T=100 psec
~

P
o
w
e
r

P
o
w
e
r

SOA
Av=10GHz
F
mod
=nc/L
=10GHz
L
~
Supermode
Suppression Filter
SOA
11
I
i
T
1 R exp i d i
t
64
\
|
|
.

|
\
|
|
.
(
(
(
0.0 + := I2
i
T2
1 R2 exp i d
i t
8
\
|
|
.

|
\
|
|
.
(
(
(
0.0 + :=
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
1.2
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
1.2
Frequency
T
r
a
n
s
m
i
s
s
i
o
n

Frequency
T
r
a
n
s
m
i
s
s
i
o
n

(a)
(b)
Nested Optical Cavities
R
1
=R
2
=90%; T
1
=T
2
=10%; FSR
2
/ FSR
1
=8
Cavity Product Identical to R=99%; T=1%
12
Harmonically Mode-locked Lasers &
Supermode Suppression

Modulation rate
The etalon free spectral range must match the mode-locking rate.
Laser cavity modes must coincide with etalon transmission peaks.
Mode spacing
Etalon transmission
Laser cavity
10.24 GHz
SOA
IM
PC
I
PC
DCF
DC
etalon
PC
PC
DCF
FL
SOA: semiconductor optical amplifier
PC: polarization controller
IM: intensity modulator
I: isolator
DCF: dispersion compensating fiber
FL: fiber launcher
FL
13
Setup
SOA
VOD
OPS
IM
I
I
PC
PC
PC
Output
DC

PC
Free Space
Optics
FPE
PM
Cir
PBS
PID
O
PS
PC
PC
PD
640 MHz
Laser Cavity
PDH Loop
I: isolator
SOA: semiconductor optical
amplifier
OPS: Optical phase shifter
PD: photodetector
PBS: polarization beam splitter
FPE: Fabry-Perot etalon
PID: PID controller
PM: phase modulator
Cir : optical circulator
OPS: Optical Phase Shifter
VOD: Variable Optical Delay
DCF: Dispersion Comp. Fiber
PDH: Pound Drever Hall
Ultra-low noise osc.
at 10.287GHz
14
Laser is constructed on a optical breadboard and thermally and
acoustically isolated with foam insulation.
Actively MLL with intracavity 1000 Finesse
etalon
15
The pulses are compressed to 1.1 ps autocorrelation FWHM by using a
dual grating compressor.
Sampling scope and autocorrelation traces
etalon
16
The 10 dB spectral width of the optical spectrum is ~8.3nm.
The comb line has a ~50dB signal-to-noise ratio
Optical spectrum
etalon
High Resolution Comb Line
17
Timing jitter and amplitude noise:
etalon
Integrated timing jitter (1 Hz 100 MHz) is ~3fs
and up to Nyquist it is 14fs.
Integrated amplitude noise (1 Hz 100
MHz) is 230ppm.
Note the overall dynamic range of the measurement 10
16
)
18
The linewidth of the laser with the 1000 Finesse etalon was measured as ~ 500 Hz
(Note the relative ratio of the carrier frequency to the linewidth ~ 10
12
)

Stability of 150 kHz over 30 sec
(NB: Measurements are limited by the CW laser linewidth & stability)
MLL
CW laser
PC
RFSA
OSA
-20 -10 0 10 20
-70
-60
-50
-40
-30
-20
-10
0
A
m
p
l
i
t
u
d
e

(
d
B
m
)
Frequency (GHz)
High Resolution Spectrum Analyzer
CW laser
Stabilized Frequency Comb lines
Optical linewidth/stability measurement.
etalon
Stability
19
Low Noise Modelocked Diode Lasers

The Effect of Intracavity Power
20
SCOW Amplifier
SCOWA Slab-Coupled Optical Waveguide Amplifier
J. J. Plant, et. al. IEEE Phot. Tech. Lett., v. 17, p.735
(2005)
W. Loh, et. al. IEEE J. Quant. Electron., v. 47, p. 66
(2011)
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
0
3
6
9
12
15
P
out
(dBm)
G
a
i
n

(
d
B
)

1 A
2 A
3 A
4 A
21
Etalon stabilized HMLL
Experimental setup
CIR: Circulator
DBM: Double Balanced Mixer
FPE: Fabry-Perot Etalon
ISO: Isolator
LPF: Low-Pass Filter
OC: Output Coupler (Variable)
PC: Polarization controller
PD: Photodetector
PID: Proportional-Integral-Differential Controller
PM: Phase Modulator
PS: Phase Shifter
PZT: Piezoelectric Transducer (Fiber Stretcher)
SOA: Semiconductor Optical Amplifier (SCOWA)
VOD: Variable Optical Delay
Pound-Drever-Hall Loop
Optical Path
Electrical Path

SCOWA
IM
PC
PC
ISO ISO
FPE (FSR = 10.287 GHz)

OC

PS
PID
DBM
PD
CIR
LPF

PM

PC
PC PC
10.287 GHz
500 MHz
PC
Laser Output
Ultra-low
noise oscillator
Long fiber cavity provides narrow resonances
Fabry-Prot Etalon provides wide mode spacing
Pound-Drever-Hall loop locks both cavities
An ultra-low noise oscillator is used to drive the laser

VOD

PZT
I. Ozdur, et. al., PTL, v. 22, pp. 431-433 (2010)
F. Quinlan, et. al., Opt. Express 14, 5346-5355 (2006)
PBS
22
-80
-70
-60
-50
-40
-30
-20
P
o
w
e
r

(
d
B
m
)
Frequency (100 MHz/div)
Span: 1 GHz
Res. BW: 1 MHz
~60 dB
High-Resolution Optical Spectrum Optical Spectrum
1544 1546 1548 1550
-70
-60
-50
-40
-30
-20
-10
P
o
w
e
r

(
d
B
m
)
Wavelength (nm)
~60 dB
10.24 10.26 10.28 10.30 10.32
-110
-100
-90
-80
-70
-60
-50
-40
-30
-20
-10
0
R
e
l
a
t
i
v
e

P
o
w
e
r

(
d
B
)
Frequency (GHz)
Span: 100 MHz
Res. BW: 3 kHz
Radio-Frequency Spectrum
1 10 100 1k 10k 100k 1M 10M 100M
-170
-160
-150
-140
-130
-120
-110
-100
-90
-80
-70
Residual Phase Noise
Noise Floor
Poseidon Oscillator Absolute Noise
L
(
f
)

(
d
B
c
/
H
z
)
Frequency Offset (Hz)
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0

I
n
t
e
g
r
a
t
e
d

T
i
m
i
n
g

J
i
t
t
e
r

(
f
s
)
Single sideband phase noise spectrum
Etalon-
stabilized
laser
(10.287 GHz)
Etalon-
stabilized
laser
(10.285 GHz)

Real-time
Spectrum
Analyzer
Real-time spectrogram
T
i
m
e

(
3
5

s
)

4 2 0 -2 -4
Frequency Offset (MHz)
Optical Frequency Stability
Measurement
Etalon-based Ultralow-noise Frequency
Comb Source
23
Oscillator characterization
-40 -30 -20 -10 0 10 20 30 40
0.0
0.5
1.0
Compressed AC
Transform Limited AC
A
C

T
r
a
c
e

(
a
.
u
.
)
Delay (ps)
t
p
= 930 fs
10.24 10.26 10.28 10.30 10.32
-100
-80
-60
-40
-20
0
R
e
l
a
t
i
v
e

P
o
w
e
r

(
d
B
)
Frequency (GHz)
Span: 100 MHz
Res. BW: 3 kHz
Pulses are compressible to close to the transform limit
Photodetected RF tone has >90 dB dynamic range
Intensity Autocorrelation RF Power Spectrum
24
Amplification
Output power and spectral characteristics
-60
-40
-20
-60
-40
-20
1552 1554 1556 1558 1560 1562 1564
-60
-40
-20
I=4A, P
out
=320 mW
I=4A, P
out
=214 mW
Directly from MLL
O
p
t
i
c
a
l

P
o
w
e
r

(
d
B
m
)
Wavelength (nm)
25
1 10 100 1k 10k 100k 1M 10M 100M
-170
-160
-150
-140
-130
-120
-110
-100
-90
-80
-70
(iv)
(iii)
(ii)
(i) All-anomalous Cav.
(ii) Disp. Comp. Cav.
(iii) All-anomalous and Covega
(iv) Poseidon Oscillator
Noise Floor
L
(
f
)

(
d
B
c
/
H
z
)
(i)
0
2
4
6
8
10

I
n
t
e
g
r
a
t
e
d

J
i
t
t
e
r

(
f
s
)
and SCOWA
Timing Jitter
SSB Phase Noise Comparison
26
Outline

Key Technologies
Applications
High Precision Laser Radar w/ Unambiguous Ranging &
Velocimetry
27
General Ideas for OFC Modulation
Desirable Modulator Qualities for real time OFC applications:

Current methods of modulating light intensity:
Direct modulation of diode driving current Frequency chirp
External modulation:
Electro-optic modulators (EOM) Nonlinear modulation transfer function
and Relatively high V

Electro-absorption modulators (EAM) Poor optical power handling,
High insertion loss and Sensitive to temperature and wavelength
Proposed concept for OFC modulation:

Injection locking a resonant cavity w/ gain (VCSEL) arcsine phase modulation
NB: Linear intensity modulator in an interferometric configuration
- Linear modulation transfer function
- Large modulation bandwidth
- Low Insertion Loss (negative..?)

- Low V

- Good power handling capability
- Comb filtering, tunable, arrays

28
Injection-Locked Resonant Cavity as an Arcsine Phase
Modulator
0

Master laser
1

Slave laser
0

Adlers equation*:

=
1

: locking range

*A. E. Siegman, Lasers, 1986

=

Locking range
1

29
V
f(t)
~
/2
I
in

V
T(V)
)) ( ( sin
1
t f
= A
I
0
,
1

)
2
) ( 1
(
t f
I I
in out
+
=
Resonant cavity linear modulator
Phase response
Stable locking range
Calculate SFDR
A
f(t)
~
I
in

T(V)
)
2
) cos( 1
(
A +
=
in out
I I
Electro-optic Mach-Zehnder modulator
t
t V t V / ) (
0
= A
Resonant Cavity Interferometric Modulator
Comparison to a Conventional MZ Modulator
out
I
out
I
30
Filtering &
Modulation
Optical Spectrum RF Spectrum
f
1
VCSEL
Bias T
AC Modulation; f
1,

DC current= I
1

Phase Modulation & Filtering
-Channel selection concept
I()
f

P(f)

Ch. 1
DC=I
1
Ch. 2
DC=I
2

Ch. 1
Ch. N
Ch. 2

Comb Modulated Output
t 0
= + f
1

31
Filtering &
Modulation
VCSEL
Bias T
AC Modulation;

f
2

DC current=

I
2


Ch. 1
Ch. N
Ch. 2

RF spectrum
f
2
f

P(f)

= + f
2

I()

Ch. 1
DC=I
1
Ch. 2
DC=I
2
t 0
Optical Spectrum
8.6 8.7 8.8 8.9 9.0
193.405
193.410
193.415
193.420
193.425
193.430
Measurement
Linear fit
F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y

(
T
H
z
)
DC Driving Current (mA)
Slope ~ 50 GHz/mA
Frequency vs. Current
32
Linear Modulator
Experimental Results
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
-80
-75
-70
-65
-60
-55
-50
P
o
w
e
r

(
d
B
m
)
Frequency (GHz)
10 dB
0.030.02 0.01 0.00 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04
0.5 t
0.4 t
0.3 t
0.2 t
0.1 t
0
0.1 t
0.2 t
0.3 t
0.4 t
0.5 t
0.6 t
Measurement
Fit

S
t
a
t
i
c

p
h
a
s
e

(
r
a
d
i
a
n
)
DC Current Deviation (mA)
1 GHz
1.0001 GHz
CW
laser
PID
RFSA
VCSEL
High-res
OSA
+
Bias
Tee
EDFA
I
DC
RF
VOA
PC
50/50
Iso
PD
PD
90/10
PZT
VCSEL: vertical cavity surface emitting laser
Iso: isolator
VOA: variable optical attenuator
PZT: piezoelectric transducer
PD: photo detector
PID: proportional-integrated-differential controller
CIR: circulator
OSA: optical spectrum analyzer
RFSA: RF spectrum analyzer
CIR
Spur free dynamic range of ~130 dB.Hz
2/3
Very low V
of ~ 2.6 mV
Multi-gigahertz bandwidth (~ 5 GHz)
Possible gain
PC
-80 -70 -60 -50 -40 -30 -20
-160
-140
-120
-100
-80
-60
-40
-20
0
Fundamental
IM3
F
u
n
d
a
m
e
n
t
a
l

&

i
n
t
e
r
m
o
d
u
l
a
t
i
o
n

p
o
w
e
r

(
d
B
m
)
RF Input (dBm)
Noise floor
SFDR = 130
dB.Hz
2/3

33
Outline

Key Technologies
Applications
High Precision Laser Radar w/ Unambiguous Ranging &
Velocimetry
34
Direct demodulation of phase
modulated signals
Operating principle: Detecting light-induced changes in the
forward voltage of an optically injection locked VCSEL operating
above threshold.
Physical origin: Voltage change is due to the change in the
carrier density in the active region of the VCSEL when driven by
an external phase modulated light.
V()

o
I () &
()

Locking
range
N. Hoghooghi, et. al, IEEE Photonics Technology
Letters, 22(20), pp. 1509-1511, 2010.

35
Phase
detector
0

0

Optical spectrum
RF spectrum
0

0

f
1
f
2
VCSEL
Bias T
AC voltage
DC voltage
Channel filtering concept
I()
f

P(f)

Ch. 1
f
mod
=f
1
Ch. 2
f
mod
=f
2

Ch. 1
Ch. N
Ch. 2

36
Demodulation & channel filtering with
an injection-locked VCSEL
PM: phase modulator
CIR: circulator

CW
laser
IM
PM
PM
PM
VCSEL
12.5 GHz
Ch.3
(1 GHz)
Ch.2
(0.9 GHz)
Ch.1
(0.8 GHz)
RFSA
OSA
DC
RF
CIR
Bias T
W
D
M

f
i
l
t
e
r
N
x
1

c
o
m
b
i
n
e
r

PC
PC
PC
PC
Electrical path
Optical path
1538.2 1538.4 1538.6
-60
-50
-40
-30
-20
-10
0
P
o
w
e
r

(
d
B
)

Wavelength (nm)
Ch.1 Ch.2 Ch.3
VCSEL
37
Experimental results of three channel
system
1538.1 1538.2 1538.3 1538.4 1538.5
-60
-50
-40
-30
-20
-10
0
Wavelength (nm)
P
o
w
e
r

(
d
B
)
1538.1 1538.2 1538.3 1538.4 1538.5
-60
-50
-40
-30
-20
-10
0
P
o
w
e
r

(
d
B
)
Wavelength (nm)
1538.1 1538.2 1538.3 1538.4 1538.5
-60
-50
-40
-30
-20
-10
0
P
o
w
e
r

(
d
B
)
Wavelength (nm)
Ch.1 Ch.2 Ch.3
750 800 850 900 950 1000
-95
-90
-85
-80
-75
-70
-65
RBW 30 kHz
Span 270 MHz
P
o
w
e
r

(
d
B
m
)
Frequency (MHz)
SNR ~ 60
dBc/Hz
750 800 850 900 950 1000
-95
-90
-85
-80
-75
-70
-65
P
o
w
e
r

(
d
B
m
)
Frequency (MHz)
RBW 30 kHz
Span 270 MHz
SNR ~ 60
dBc/Hz
750 800 850 900 950 1000
-95
-90
-85
-80
-75
-70
-65
RBW 30 kHz
Span 270 MHz
P
o
w
e
r

(
d
B
m
)
Frequency (MHz)
SNR ~ 62
dBc/Hz
Optical
spectra
Corresponding
detected RF
spectra
First demonstration of direct demodulation and channel filtering of
phase modulated signals with SNR of 60 dBc/Hz.
38

Linear Modulator Concept for Pulsed Light

Received RF signal

- A resonant cavity (Fabry-Perot) with multiple resonances, injection locked by a mode-
locked laser as the frequency comb.
- By simultaneous modulation of the period combs, one imparts arcsine phase modulation
on each injected comb.

1/f
rep

MLL

Fabry-Perot Laser
FSR=f
rep

FP Optical
Frequency

FP resonances
Corresponding phase responses
Injected comb lines from the MLL
Imparted phase on each injected combs

39
Outline

Key Technologies

Applications

40
Multi-heterodyne detection of
frequency combs
Motivation
Extremely complex arbitrary waveforms can be generated with
frequency combs
Instantaneous bandwidth in the order of several THz
W
D
M
W
D
M
PM AM
PM AM

Mode-locked
laser
ot ~ 1/BW
f
A
|
f
A
|
BW
WDM
41
f
f
(1)
rep
2f
(1)
rep
f
(2)
rep
R
F

P
o
w
e
r

S
p
e
c
t
r
a
l

D
e
n
s
i
t
y
f
(1)
rep
Photo-
detection
+ +2
f
(1)
rep
f
(2)
rep
O
p
t
i
c
a
l

P
o
w
e
r

S
p
e
c
t
r
a
l

D
e
n
s
i
t
y
Comb
Source
Comb
Source
D
Oscilloscope
RFSA
Diagnostics
f
rep
PLL
LPF
(a)
(b)
Multi-heterodyne Detection of
Frequency Combs (Optical Sampling)
Each pair of comb-lines generates a unique RF beat-note
The RF beat-note retains the relative phase between the comb-lines
42
frequency combs
Experimental results Mode-locked laser combs
Effective repetition rate detuning ~600 kHz
Total Optical BW ~ 17nm ~2.12THz
Compression factor ~ 17,000x
10 GHz spacing optical comb is mapped into a 600 kHz spacing RF comb
Optical spectra
1500 1600 1475 1575 1550 1525
Wavelength (nm)
P
o
w
e
r

(
5

d
B
/
d
i
v
.
)

First two sets of RF beat notes
50 250 0 200 150 100
Frequency (MHz)
P
o
w
e
r

(
d
B
m
)

-50
-60
-70
Frequency (MHz)
140 160 180
-50
-60
-70
-80
P
o
w
e
r

(
d
B
m
)

43
Pulse Combs Time Domain
Experimental Results (10 GHz & 250 MHz)
As the optical pulse is stretched and compressed, the RF
waveform does the same Optical waveform is mapped to RF
waveform
Normal
Anomalous
Dispersion
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5
-50
-40
-30
-20
-10
0
10
20
30
40
time [s]
V
o
l
t
a
g
e

[
m
V
]
1 2 3 4 0 5
Time (s)
A
m
p
l
i
t
u
d
e

(
a
.
u
.
)

Time domain waveform
Stretched
Direct output
Compressed
44
Phase Modulated CW Combs
Experimental Results

Real time
oscilloscope
RFSA
CW Laser
Phase
Modulator
~10 GHz
Erbium Fiber
Mode-locked
Laser
45
frequency combs
Experimental results Phase modulation combs
1 2 3 4
Time (s)
0
0
-20
-40
20
40
A
m
p
l
i
t
u
d
e

(
m
V
)

Time domain waveform
1 2 3 4
Time (s)
0
70
60
80
90
I
n
s
t
a
n
t
a
n
e
o
u
s

F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y

(
M
H
z
)

Instantaneous frequency
65 70 75 80
Frequency (MHz)
60
A
m
p
l
i
t
u
d
e

(
a
.
u
.
)

Fourier transform
P
h
a
s
e

(
t
)

-1
0
1
The optical waveform chirp is mapped to the
RF waveform
Spectral phase information can be retrieved
46
Outline

Key Technologies

Applications

47
Optical DACs using Frequency
Comb Filtering Static Approach
T
T
1/T
1/T
Time
Time
Frequency
Frequency
I
n
t
e
n
s
i
t
y

I
n
t
e
n
s
i
t
y

I
n
t
e
n
s
i
t
y

48
Modelocked
Comb Generator
N Combs
WDM DeMux
Modulator Array
Maximum Modulation Rate F~Av
WDM Mux
Arbitrary Waveform
Instantaneous Bandwidth NxAv
Ultra-Pure CW channels
Modulated CW Channels
Comb Spacing Av
Temporal
Gate
Pulse Shaping at the Highest Possible Spectral Resolution
Challenges: Some waveforms require phase modulation well beyond 2t
Optical DACs using Frequency
Comb Filtering Dynamic Approach
49 49
A Novel Concept for Ultra-High-Speed Optical Pulse Shaping
Our novel idea is different than the conventional approaches in 4 ways:
Instead of manipulating the existing optical combs, we regenerate the optical
combs with the desired amplitudes and phases
The refresh rate is limited by the modulation speed of the VCSELs (10s of GHz)
The channel count can easily be scaled by going from 1-D array into 2-D array
geometry
Simultaneous modulation and amplification
Phase / Amplitude

> 10
6
increase in
the refresh rate !!!
50
High-speed Reconfigurable Optical
Four optical comblines, independently modulated and
coherently combined
Wavelength demux and mux pair
6.25 GHz channel spacing
Each modulator Injection-locked VCSEL with
current modulation
51
1
5
3
8
.
8
0
1
5
3
8
.
8
5
1
5
3
8
.
9
0
1
5
3
8
.
9
5
1
5
3
9
.
0
0
1
5
3
9
.
0
5
1
5
3
9
.
1
0
1
5
3
9
.
1
5
1
5
3
9
.
2
0
1
5
3
9
.
2
5
1
5
3
9
.
3
0
1
5
3
9
.
3
5
1
5
3
9
.
4
0
1
5
3
9
.
4
5
1
5
3
9
.
5
0
1
5
3
9
.
5
5
1
5
3
9
.
6
0
-70
-60
-50
-40
-30
-20
-10
0
P
o
w
e
r

(
d
B
m
)
Wavelength (nm)
0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5
-5.0
0.0
5.0
10.0
15.0
20.0
25.0
30.0
160 ps
V
o
l
t
a
g
e

(
m
V
)
Time (ns)
~30 ps
Experimental Setup
Optical Frequency Comb Source
Generated by modulation
of CW laser
Adjust DC bias voltages,
RF phases and amplitudes
to achieve five combs of
equal power
52
Experimental Setup
Demux, Mux Specifications
Essex Hyperfine WDM filters
Fiber-pigtailed input and outputs
Channel spacing of 6.25 GHz
Adjacent channel isolation ~ 22
dB
Gaussian shaped passband
3 dB channel bandwidth ~ 3.5
GHz
Mux, Demux are a matched pair
53

Intensity Profile of Rapidly
Updated Optical Waveforms
VCSEL 1 2 3 4
RF frequency (MHz) 4 5 6 7
VCSEL 1 2 3 4
RF frequency (MHz) 1562.5 3125 781.25 2343.75
5.120n 6.400n
0
100m
200m
V
o
l
t
a
g
e

(
V
)
Time (s)
0
.
0
0
1
.
2
8
n
2
.
5
6
n
3
.
8
4
n
5
.
1
2
n
6
.
4
0
n
7
.
6
8
n
8
.
9
6
n
0
100m
200m
V
o
l
t
a
g
e

(
V
)
Time (s)
Photodetected RF spectrum
0.00 6.25G 12.50G 18.75G 25.00G
-60
-40
-20
P
o
w
e
r

(
d
B
m
)
Frequency (Hz)
54
VCSEL 1 2 3 4
RF frequency (MHz) 1562.5 3125 781.25 2343.75
1
9
4
.
7
4
7
1
9
4
.
7
5
4
1
9
4
.
7
6
0
1
9
4
.
7
6
6
1
9
4
.
7
7
2
1
9
4
.
7
7
8
1
9
4
.
7
8
5
-60
-50
-40
-30
-20
-10
VCSEL 1 2 3 4
Freq.(MHz) 1562.5 3125 781.25 2343.75
RF (dBm) -13 +2 -19 -14
VCSEL 3 IL 2010-10-13-1.trc
P
o
w
e
r

(
d
B
m
)
Frequency (THz)
Optical Spectrum
Intensity Profile of Rapidly
Updated Optical Waveforms
55
Reconfigurable Cross Connect Switch /
Pulse Shaping Code Reconfiguration
Information from any wavelength can be arbitrarily switched
between channelsat rates approaching channel spacing.
100 times faster that the existing MEMS technology.
DC
3

DC
4

DC
1

DC
2

DC
1

DC
2

DC
3

DC
4

56
Outline

Key Technologies

Applications

57
Matched Filtering using OFCs
58
Comparison to OCDMA
Optical Code Division Multiple
Access (OCDMA)
Spectral modulation, temporal
spread
Decoding:
Needs non-linear optical
thresholding because of slow
response time of photodetectors

Coherent detection technique
is linear
Requires less optical power
Heritage and Weiner, IEEE JSTQE, 2007

Jiang et al., IEEE PTL, 2004

59
Complete Experimental Setup
60
Interference using Orthogonal
Codes
Using orthogonal codes gives best contrast between
different binary sequences
-
PD
PD
Differential
signal

0,,0,
1 2 3 4

0,0,0,0
1 2 3 4

1 2 3 4

1 2 3 4
0
-
PD
PD
Differential
signal

0,0,0,0
1 2 3 4

0,0,0,0
1 2 3 4
1

1 2 3 4

1 2 3 4
(
(
(
(
(
(

1 1 1 1
1 1 1 1
1 1 1 1
1 1 1 1

D Code
C Code
B Code
A Code
61
5 . 11 =
+
=
mismatch match
mismatch match
Q
o o

30
10
2
2
1
~
|
|
.
|
\
|
=
Q
erfc BER
,
Summary of Results of Matched Filtering
62
Outline

Key Technologies
Applications

63
Summary
Demonstrated key technologies and applications using OFCs
Key Technologies
Stabilized optical frequency combs (1.5 fsec jitter; <1kHz, 10Hz)
Lowest noise mode-locked comb source at 10 GHz & 1550nm
Linear intererometric intensity modulators & channel filtering
First linear interferometric modulator (130 dB/Hz
2/3
SFDR, V

=2.6mV)
Direct phase detection and channel filtering (>60 dBc/Hz)

Applications
Arbitrary waveform measurements (A to D Converter )
Reconstruction of Incoherent (Independent) Sources
Arbitrary waveform generation (D to A Converter)
Fastest true real-time waveform generation (Mod Rates: >3GHz; IB: >22 GHz)
Matched filtering w/ differential photodetection (BER=10
-30
)

64
65
Optical intensity and
phase response vs.
controlled via
current modulation of
VCSEL
Intensity change is small
Phase difference between
master and slave light,
0
:
Fundamentals of Injection Locking
Using VCSELs as Modulators
Locking range =
L
fr
1
A.E. Siegman, Lasers, Chap. 29, University Science Books, 1986
F. Mogensen, et al., IEEE J. Quantum Electronics., vol. 21, 1985
Phase response
Output intensity

tan sin
1 1
0
o
e
e
|

|
|
.
|
\
| A
=
L
Linewidth enhancement factor
P
h
a
s
e

=
1

fr

( ) o |
t
1
0
cot
2
< <
Slave Laser
(VCSEL)
Master
Laser
66
- Theory

) ( sin ) (
1 0 1
1
m
e
e e
e
0
: slave frequency

1
: master frequency

)
2
) cos( 1
(
A +
in
I
A
)
2
) ( 1
( )
2
) 2 / )) ( ( cos(sin 1
(
1
t f
I
t f
I I
in in out
+
=
+
=
t
Linear Modulator
)) ( ( sin
1
t f
= A
in
I
in
I
out
I
Mach-Zehnder Interferometer
Injection-locked laser phase response
1
/2
-/2
o
-
1
Locking
Range
Put them together
67
V
f(t)
~
/2
I
in

V
T(V)
)) ( ( sin
1
t f
= A
I
0
,
1

)
2
) ( 1
(
t f
I I
in out
+
=
Resonant cavity linear modulator
Phase response
Stable locking range
Calculate SFDR
A
f(t)
~
I
in

T(V)
)
2
) cos( 1
(
A +
=
in out
I I
Electro-optic Mach-Zehnder modulator
t
t V t V / ) (
0
= A
- Comparison to a conventional MZ modulator

out
I
out
I
68
Filtering &
Modulation
Optical Spectrum RF Spectrum
f
1
VCSEL
Bias T
AC Modulation; f
1,

DC current= I
1

I()
f

P(f)

Ch. 1
DC=I
1
Ch. 2
DC=I
2

Ch. 1
Ch. N
Ch. 2

t 0
= + f
1

69
Filtering &
Modulation
VCSEL
Bias T
AC Modulation;

f
2

DC current=

I
2


Ch. 1
Ch. N
Ch. 2

RF spectrum
f
2
f

P(f)

= + f
2

I()

Ch. 1
DC=I
1
Ch. 2
DC=I
2
t 0
Optical Spectrum
8.6 8.7 8.8 8.9 9.0
193.405
193.410
193.415
193.420
193.425
193.430
Measurement
Linear fit
F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y

(
T
H
z
)
DC Driving Current (mA)
Slope ~ 50 GHz/mA
Frequency vs. Current
70
Linear interferometric modulator setup
CW
laser
Piezo
driver
RFSA
VCSEL
High-res
OSA
Bias
Tee
I
DC
RF
VOA
PC
50/50
Iso
PD
PZT
CIR
PC
VCSEL: vertical cavity surface emitting
laser
Iso: isolator
PD: photo detector
CIR: circulator
High-res OSA: High resolution optical
spectrum analyzer
Electrical path
Optical path
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
-80
-75
-70
-65
-60
-55
-50
P
o
w
e
r

(
d
B
m
)
Frequency (GHz)
10 dB
0.030.02 0.01 0.00 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04
0.5 t
0.4 t
0.3 t
0.2 t
0.1 t
0
0.1 t
0.2 t
0.3 t
0.4 t
0.5 t
0.6 t
Measurement
Fit

S
t
a
t
i
c

p
h
a
s
e

(
r
a
d
i
a
n
)
DC Current Deviation (mA)
0.00 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20 0.25
0.15
0.20
0.25
0.30
0.35
0.40
V
o
l
t
a
g
e
(
V
)
Time(sec)
V
~ 2.6 mV
-10 dB bandwidth
~5 GHz
71

V(t)
F
2
2
2
2
1
3
1
3
2
2
2
1
2
1
1
2
1
-
2
2
2
-
1
3
2
3
1
2
2
2
1
=
+
+
+
Noise floor
Spur-free
dynamic range
(SFDR)

How to measure linearity of a modulator?
-Two-tone experiment
A
I
in

I
out

Modulator
N. Hoghooghi and P. J. Delfyett, IEEE Journal of Lightwave
Technology, 29(22), pp.3421-342, 2011.

72
Analog link employing linear modulator
1 GHz
1.0001 GHz
CW
laser
PID
RFSA
VCSEL
High-res
OSA
+
Bias
Tee
EDFA
I
DC
RF
VOA
PC
50/50
Iso
PD
PD
90/10
PZT
CIR
PC
VCSEL: vertical cavity surface emitting laser
Iso: isolator
PD: photo detector
PID: proportional-integrated-differential controller
CIR: circulator
1 km of
fiber
Electrical path
Optical path
73
Spur-free dynamic range measurement
of the link
-80 -70 -60 -50 -40 -30 -20
-160
-140
-120
-100
-80
-60
-40
-20
0
Fundamental
IM3
F
u
n
d
a
m
e
n
t
a
l

&

i
n
t
e
r
m
o
d
u
l
a
t
i
o
n

p
o
w
e
r

(
d
B
m
)
RF Input (dBm)
Noise floor
Power of the fundamental is a factor of >3,000,000
^2

higher than third-order intermodulation power.
Order of the magnitude better than DARPA project
goal.
0.999 1.000 1.001 1.002
-60
-50
-40
-30
-20
-10
0
10
P
o
w
e
r

(
d
B
m
)
Frequency (GHz)
Sample RF spectrum
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
-160
-150
-140
-130
-120
-110
-100
-90
-80
R
I
N

[
d
B
c
/
H
z
]
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
0
0.05
0.1
0.15
0.2
0.25
Frequency Offset [MHz]
I
n
t
e
g
r
a
t
e
d

R
M
S

R
I
N

(
%
)
RIN
SFDR = 130 dB.Hz
2/3

74
~

- - - - - -
e
~

e
~

e
L
c/2L
Ae
Ae
Modelocking Basics
A Review
Optical Cavity
Allowed Modes
Laser Medium
Laser Cavity
Spontaneous Emission Spectrum
Laser Spectrum
75
e
e

c=v
e
o
=2tv
e
m

e
o

e
o

e
o
+ e
m
e
o
- e
m

~

e
Ae
~

~

T=2L/c
t
P
=2t/Ae
E-Field
E-Field Spectrum
Modulated
E-Field
E-Field Spectrum
Modelocked Spectrum
Modulator
Modelocking Basics
A Review
76
Coherent Optical Signal Processing &
Communications using Optical Frequency Combs
What are optical frequency combs?
Coherent, stabilized cw optical frequencies generated on a periodic frequency grid, (e.g.,
a set of longitudinal modes from a modelocked laser).

Why re-visit coherent communications/signal processing?
Allows the use of E(t) as compared to I(t) high spectral efficiency.
(80x -200xincrease)
Coherent combs of stabilized optical frequencies are easily obtainable from mode-
locked lasers.
Channel conditioning can be done simply ((frequency stabilization of the entire comb as
compared to individual lasers).
Sets of combs at separate locations can be made coherent (frequency and phase)
Modelocked Spectrum
~

e
Ae
T=2L/c
t
P
=2t/Ae
Modulator
Optical Frequency Combs
77
Ultrafast Photonics Group
Fundamental Physics
Quantum Dot
Ultrafast Light- Matter
Dynamics
New Device Development
Q-Dot Optical Amplifiers
Modulators & Photodetectors
Active Optical Filters
Systems Applications
Optical Networks for Signal Processing &
Communications
Optical Sampling for A-to-D Converters
Precision Laser Radar
delfyett@creol.ucf.edu
http://creol.ucf.edu
http://up.creol.ucf.edu
78
Stabilized Comb Source Specs
1.1ps pulse width with and 50 dB suppresion
to the next observable optical mode.
500 Hz optical linewidth and sub 150 kHz
maximum frequency deviation in 30 seconds.
3 fs integrated timing jitter from (1 Hz100
MHz) and 14 fs timing jitter extrapolated to
Nyquist (1 Hz 5.14 GHz).
Simultaneous optical frequency stabilization and supermode suppression
of a 10.287 GHz harmonically mode-locked laser with:
Ozdur I., et al, A semiconductor based 10-GHz optical comb source with 3 fs integrated timing jitter
(1Hz-100MHz) and ~500 Hz comb linewidth Photonic Technology Letters Vol. 22, No. 6, March 15, 2010.
79
Optical Spectra
1550 1555 1560
-80
-70
-60
-50
-40
-30
P
o
w
e
r

(
d
B
m
)
Wavelength (nm)
Optical Spectrum
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
-0.2
-0.1
0
0.1
0.2
time (s)
F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y

O
f
f
s
e
t

(
M
H
z
)
Spectrogram
-1.0 -0.5 0.0 0.5 1.0
-80
-70
-60
-50
-40
-30
-20
-10
0
R
e
l
.

P
o
w
e
r

(
d
B
)
Frequency Offset (MHz)
Span: 2 MHz
Res. BW. 100 Hz
Single comb-line
beat-note
2 kHz FWHM Lorentzian
1 kHz FWHM Lorentzian
80
Phase and amplitude noise
1 10 100 1k 10k 100k 1M 10M 100M
-170
-160
-150
-140
-130
-120
-110
-100
-90
-80
-70
-60
L
(
f
)

(
d
B
c
/
H
z
)
0
2
4
6
8
Directly from MLL
Amplified (P
out
~ 200 mW)

I
n
t
e
g
r
a
t
e
d

T
i
m
i
n
g

J
i
t
t
e
r

(
f
s
)
Single Sideband Phase Noise
1 10 100 1k 10k 100k 1M 10M 100M
-170
-160
-150
-140
-130
-120
-110
-100
-90
-80
-70
-60
M
(
f
)

(
d
B
c
/
H
z
)
Directly from MLL
Amplified
0.00
0.02
0.04
0.06
0.08
0.10

I
n
t
e
g
r
a
t
e
d

A
M

N
o
i
s
e

(
%
)
Pulse-to-pulse energy fluctuations
81
Pulses
-40 -30 -20 -10 0 10 20 30 40
0.0
0.5
1.0
Compressed AC
Transform Limited AC
A
C

T
r
a
c
e

(
a
.
u
.
)
Delay (ps)
t
p
= 930 fs
10.24 10.26 10.28 10.30 10.32
-100
-80
-60
-40
-20
0
R
e
l
a
t
i
v
e

P
o
w
e
r

(
d
B
)
Frequency (GHz)
Span: 100 MHz
Res. BW: 3 kHz
Pulses are compressible to close to the transform limit
Photodetected RF tone has >90 dB dynamic range
82
Conclusions
An optical comb source has been built with:

Stable (instability < 300 kHz @ 194 THz over 60 s), low line-width (< 1
kHz) optical comb
High repetition rate (10 GHz) optical pulse-train
Short pulses generated from a dispersion compensated cavity (
p
<1 ps)

Power Amplification with a Slab-Coupled Optical Waveguide
Amplifier yields
High optical power (up to 390 mW, > 5 mW per comb-line)
No evident degradation in Phase (14 fs jitter integrated to Nyquist) and
Amplitude Noise (< 0.03%, 1 Hz to 100 MHz)

83
Linear Intensity Modulator
System Configuration
-Iso: Isolator
-PC: Polarization Controller
-PS: Optical Phase Shifter
-VOA: Variable Optical Attenuator
-TEC: Temperature Controller

-Cir : Circulator
-VCSEL: Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Laser
-RFSA: Radio Frequency Spectrum Analyzer
-OSA: Optical Spectrum Analyzer

84
Concept of Photonic Arbitrary Waveform Generation
Static Fourier Analysis
=
+ + =
K
k
k k
t k A
A
t f
1
0
0
) cos(
2
) ( o e
k : periodic frequency components
A
k
: amplitude of the k
th
frequency component
k
phase of the k
th
frequency component
Performance Characteristics
Limited to periodic signals
Minimum periodicity ~ Mode spacing - filter spacing
Accuracy determined by number of combs

Peter Delfyett Seminar: Ultrafast Coherent Optical Signal Processing Using Stabilized Optical Frequency Combs From Mode-Locked Semiconductor Diode Lasers

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Peter Delfyett Seminar: Ultrafast Coherent Optical Signal Processing Using Stabilized Optical Frequency Combs From Mode-Locked Semiconductor Diode Lasers

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Ultrafast Coherent Optical Signal

Processing using Stabilized Optical

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