Experimental photonic generation of chirped pulses using nonlinear dispersion-based incoherent processing

Opt Express. 2015 May 18;23(10):13634-40. doi: 10.1364/OE.23.013634.

Abstract

We experimentally demonstrate, for the first time, a chirped microwave pulses generator based on the processing of an incoherent optical signal by means of a nonlinear dispersive element. Different capabilities have been demonstrated such as the control of the time-bandwidth product and the frequency tuning increasing the flexibility of the generated waveform compared to coherent techniques. Moreover, the use of differential detection improves considerably the limitation over the signal-to-noise ratio related to incoherent processing.