Patent · US Expired

Optical pulse compressor for optical communications systems

US6108474A · kind A · utility

49Cited by
7References
8Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateDec 11, 1997
Grant dateAug 22, 2000
Priority date
Expiry dateDec 11, 2017

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH01S3/0057
  • WIPO fieldOptics
  • WIPO sectorInstruments

Abstract

In accordance with the invention, an optical pulse compressor comprises a pulse source, a section of nonlinear optical waveguide including a periodic structure, such as a Bragg grating, for providing positive dispersion and a section of linear optical waveguide including a negative dispersion component. The nonlinear waveguide should have a second order index N.sub.2 at least ten times the second order index N.sub.2 ' of the linear waveguide. The nonlinear waveguide is preferably chalcogenide fiber, with a Bragg grating photoinduced into the core. Because the grating is 4-5 orders of magnitude more dispersive than standard optical fiber, the length of the nonlinear waveguide section can be scaled down to a few centimeters with accompanying reduction of deleterious processes. Modeling suggests that compression factors of 5 with an initial 60 ps pulse are achievable with grating lengths of about 20 cm.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.