METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ARBITRARY SPECTRAL SHAPING OF AN OPTICAL PULSE

摘要

A method and an apparatus for stretching an optical pulse and shaping its spectrum. The method includes the step: of providing a an optical fiber element having a first long length fiber Bragg grating (26) having a refractive index perturbation of varying periodicity. The optical pulse is launched into the fiber Bragg grating, wherein the Bragg grating reflects th e pulse in a chromatically dispersed output. The reflected output is coupled with an optical modulator (34) programmed to temporally modify the amplitude of the chromatically dispersed output to attenuate selected optical frequencies in a desired pattern. The apparatus for stretching and arbitrari ly shaping the spectrum of an optical pulse with a desired wavelength resolutio n .DELTA..lambda.res includes a routing optical (24) device and an optical fib er element having a Bragg grating. The routing optical device routs energy between different waveguides, and has an input port to receive the optical pulse.