Related Experiment Videos
Electro-optic polymer frequency shifter activated by input optical pulses
Ilya Y Poberezhskiy1, Bartosz J Bortnik, Seong-Ku Kim
1Department of Electrical Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, 64-147 Engineering IV Building, Los Angeles, California 90095, USA. ipoberez@ucla.edu
Abstract:
We demonstrate electro-optic frequency shifting of 1.55-microm optical pulses by as much as 86 GHz in a polymer traveling-wave phase modulator. The optical pulses were modulated with the linear region of quasi-sinusoidal microwave pulses. In the implemented configuration the electro-optic frequency shifter does not require synchronization with the source of the optical pulses, making it transparent to the optical-pulse repetition rate and increasing its utility. Electro-optic frequency conversion has a number of advantages compared with other methods of all-optical frequency conversion, including no need for a second optical source, high conversion efficiency, and simple control of the output frequency.