We experimentally demonstrate the temporal reshaping of optical waveforms in the telecom wavelength band using the principle of quantum frequency conversion. The reshaped optical pulses do not undergo any wavelength translation. The interaction takes place in a nonlinear chi((2)) waveguide using an appropriately designed pump pulse programmed via an optical waveform generator. We show the reshaping of a single-peak pulse into a double-peak pulse and vice versa. We also show that exponentially decaying pulses can be reshaped into a near Gaussian shape, and vice versa, which is a useful functionality for quantum communications. (C) 2017 Optical Society of America
We experimentally demonstrate the temporal reshaping of optical waveforms in the telecom wavelength band using the principle of quantum frequency conversion. The reshaped optical pulses do not undergo any wavelength translation. The interaction takes place in a nonlinear chi((2)) waveguide using an appropriately designed pump pulse programmed via an optical waveform generator. We show the reshaping of a single-peak pulse into a double-peak pulse and vice versa. We also show that exponentially decaying pulses can be reshaped into a near Gaussian shape, and vice versa, which is a useful functionality for quantum communications. (C) 2017 Optical Society of America
We experimentally demonstrate the temporal reshaping of optical waveforms in the telecom wavelength band using the principle of quantum frequency conversion. The reshaped optical pulses do not undergo any wavelength translation. The interaction takes place in a nonlinear χ(2) waveguide using an appropriately designed pump pulse programmed via an optical waveform generator. We show the reshaping of a single-peak pulse into a double-peak pulse and vice versa. We also show that exponentially decaying pulses can be reshaped into a near Gaussian shape, and vice versa, which is a useful functionality for quantum communications.
We experimentally demonstrate spectral broadening and shaping of exponentially-decaying nanosecond pulses via nonlinear mixing with a phase-modulated pump in a periodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN) waveguide. 1550 nm pump light is imprinted with a temporal phase and used to upconvert a weak 980 nm pulse to 600 nm while simultaneously broadening the spectrum to that of a Lorentzian pulse up to 10 times shorter. While the current experimental demonstration is for spectral shaping, we also provide a numerical study showing the feasibility of subsequent spectral phase correction to achieve temporal compression and reshaping of a 1 ns mono-exponentially decaying pulse to a 250 ps Lorentzian, which would constitute a complete spectrotemporal waveform shaping protocol. This method, which uses quantum frequency conversion in PPLN with >100:1 signal-to-noise ratio, is compatible with single photon states of light.
We describe a technique for dynamic quantum optical arbitrary-waveform generation and manipulation, which is capable of mode selectively operating on quantum signals without inducing significant loss or decoherence. It is built upon combining the developed tools of quantum frequency conversion and optical arbitrary waveform generation. Considering realistic parameters, we propose and analyze applications such as programmable reshaping of picosecond-scale temporal modes, selective frequency conversion of any one or superposition of those modes, and mode-resolved photon counting. We also report on experimental progress to distinguish two overlapping, orthogonal temporal modes, demonstrating over 8 dB extinction between picosecond-scale time-frequency modes, which agrees well with our theory. Our theoretical and experimental progress, as a whole, points to an enabling optical technique for various applications such as ultradense quantum coding, unity-efficiency cavity-atom quantum memories, and high-speed quantum computing.
We demonstrate a quantum interface that simultaneously converts the wavelength, bandwidth, and duration of single-photon-level pulses, enabling compatibility between disparate quantum systems. Using difference frequency generation in a lithium niobate waveguide driven by a highly chirped pump, we transform pulses from 798 nm, 5 GHz, 150 ps (quantum dot-like) to 1300 nm, 35 GHz, < 25 ps (telecom standard). This nonlinear optical time lens achieves over 80% internal conversion efficiency and compresses output pulses below detector resolution. The device offers a compact solution for integrating quantum emitters, memories, and telecom networks, with potential for further pulse shape control.
We demonstrate a quantum interface that simultaneously converts the wavelength, bandwidth, and duration of single-photon-level pulses, enabling compatibility between disparate quantum systems. Using difference frequency generation in a lithium niobate waveguide driven by a highly chirped pump, we transform pulses from 798 nm, 5 GHz, 150 ps (quantum dot-like) to 1300 nm, 35 GHz, < 25 ps (telecom standard). This nonlinear optical time lens achieves over 80% internal conversion efficiency and compresses output pulses below detector resolution. The device offers a compact solution for integrating quantum emitters, memories, and telecom networks, with potential for further pulse shape control.
Programmable control of individual pulses in a high-repetition-rate (typically MHz) ultrafast pulse train is a long-standing goal for optical arbitrary waveform synthesis. Here, we report a programmable pulse-by-pulse shaper that enables deterministic spectral-temporal control of ultrafast pulses at a repetition rate of ∼ 20~MHz. By synchronizing an FPGA-driven electro-optic modulation on the stretched waveform in a temporal 4f shaping system, the regime writes pulse-index-dependent spectral phase profiles onto individual pulses. We demonstrate three levels of programmable ability: zero-order phase coding that maps pulse-by-pulse phase sequences into double-slit-like spectral-temporal interference; first-order phase programming that produces arbitrary temporal trajectories with deterministic delay; and fractional-order phase engineering that generates programmable temporal breathing. By launching the shaped pulse train into a nonlinear fiber stage, the programmed temporal breathing is converted into one spectral breathing. We further construct a phase-level-dependent regime map of nonlinear spectral breathing, revealing transitions from weak single-envelope breathing to multi-peak spectral splitting and strongly breathing merged-spectrum dynamics, in agreement with numerical simulations. This pulse-by-pulse spectral-temporal synthesis platform establishes pulse index as a programmable degree of freedom for ultrafast pulse shaping and provides a route toward real-time and pulse resolved optical arbitary waveform synthesis.