Tunable wavelength converters of picosecond pulses based on periodically poled LiNbO waveguides

Abstract

A tunable wavelength conversion between picosecond pulses is experimentally demonstrated by using cascaded sum- and difference-frequency generation (cSFG/DFG) in a periodically poled LiNbO₃ (PPLN) waveguide. The pulsed signal with 40 GHz repetition rate and 1.57 ps pulse width is adopted. When the input signal and the first control wavelengths are kept at 1554.2 and 1532.5 nm, respectively, the output signal wavelength can be tuned from 1536.0 to 1545.2 nm as the second control wavelength varies from 1550.5 to 1541.0 nm. By varying the first control wavelength to satisfy the quasi-phase matching (QPM) condition for sum-frequency generation (SFG) and simultaneously adjusting the second control wavelength, the tunable output signal wavelength can also be obtained when the input signal wavelength is changed. In the experiment, the amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) noise from the erbium-doped fiber amplifier (EDFA) is effectively suppressed by employing two narrow band tunable filters. Therefore, the wavelength down- and up-conversions are simultaneously observed.

Keywords

wavelength converter / periodically poled LiNbO₃ (PPLN) / cascaded sum- and difference-frequency generation (cSFG/DFG) / wavelength down- and up-conversions