Abstract

We show both numerically and experimentally that a phase modulator, acting as a time lens in the Fourier-lens configuration, can induce spectral broadening, narrowing, or shifts, depending on the phase of the modulator cycle. These spectral effects depend on the maximum phase shift that can be imposed by the modulator. In our numerical simulations, pulse spectrum could be compressed by a factor of 8 for a 30 rad phase shift. Experimentally, spectral shifts over a 1.35 nm range and spectral narrowing and broadening by a factor of 2 were demonstrated using a lithium niobate phase modulator with a maximum phase shift of 16 rad at a 10 GHz modulation frequency. All spectral changes were accomplished without employing optical nonlinear effects such as self- or cross-phase modulation.

© 2015 Optical Society of America

Spectral change of femtosecond pulses due to induced amplitude and phase modulations

E. Tokunaga, A. Terasaki, T. Wada, K. Tsunetomo, Y. Osaka, and T. Kobayashi
J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 10(12) 2364-2370 (1993)

Electro-optic time lens with an extended time aperture

Luis Enrique Munioz-Camuniez, Victor Torres-Company, Jesús Lancis, Jorge Ojeda-Castañeda, and Pedro Andrés
J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 27(10) 2110-2115 (2010)

Comparison of state-of-art phase modulators and parametric mixers in time-lens applications under different repetition rates

Chi Zhang, P. C. Chui, and Kenneth K. Y. Wong
Appl. Opt. 52(36) 8817-8826 (2013)

Spectral properties of the Kerr-lens mode-locked Cr⁴⁺:YAG laser

Vladimir L. Kalashnikov, Evgeni Sorokin, Sergei Naumov, and Irina T. Sorokina
J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 20(10) 2084-2092 (2003)

Spectral Fraunhofer regime: time-to-frequency conversion by the action of a single time lens on an optical pulse

José Azaña, Naum K. Berger, Boris Levit, and Baruch Fischer
Appl. Opt. 43(2) 483-490 (2004)