Grant: Research Tools and Instruments - Category 1 (<$150,000)

Given the unquestionable scientific and technological interest in strengthening research and training in the increasingly important area of Ultrafast Photonics in Canada, the three co-applicants have recently established at INRS-EMT a vigorous research program focused on a fundamental technology development, namely the proposal and demonstration of simple and practical fiber-optics techniques for ultrafast optical pulse shaping capable of providing the stringent performance specifications that are required for many relevant applications in a variety of fields, including (1) ultrahigh-speed fiber-optics telecommunications; (2) biomedical imaging; (3) ultrafast all-optical computing; and (4) ultra-wideband (UWB) microwave signal generation and processing. The two main distinctive features of the target fiber-optics pulse shaping techniques are: (i) they will enable synthesizing arbitrary pulse waveforms with time features down to the sub-picosecond range, a regime that is well beyond the reach of present all-fiber pulse shaping technologies; and (ii) they will provide full shape-to-shape reconfigurability at unprecedented switching speeds, in the GHz range (several orders of magnitude faster than with present solutions). The newly proposed fiber-optics pulse shaping toolset will be constructed using two alternative approaches based on the use of optical fiber dispersion combined with electro-optic modulation: (A) Temporal imaging; and (B) Time-domain linear optical filtering. The present grant application will complement funding from other sources with the aim of acquiring state-of-the-art instrumentation that is absolutely critical for the successful implementation of the proposed reconfigurable fiber-optics ultrafast pulse-shaping methods, namely a GHz-bandwidth programmable electronic arbitrary waveform generator. Direct benefits associated with our proposed research projects include (i) they will foster focused research activities in innovative fundamental photonics technologies , consistently with the specific needs of the high-technology Canadian industry, and (iii) they will promote the training of highly qualified personnel in response to the scientific and technological challenges of our modern society.