Optical pulse shaping based on discrete space-to-time mapping in cascaded co-directional couplers

We propose and numerically validate a new design concept for on-chip optical pulse shaping based on discrete space-to-time mapping in cascaded co-directional couplers. We show that under weak-coupling conditions, the amplitude and phase of the discrete complex apodization profile of the device can be directly mapped into its temporal impulse response. In this scheme, the amplitude and phase of the apodization profile can be controlled by tuning the coupling strength and relative time delay between the couplers, respectively. The proposed concept enables direct synthesis of the target temporal waveforms over a very broad range of time-resolution, from the femtosecond to the sub-nanosecond regime, using readily feasible integrated waveguide technologies. Moreover, the device offers compactness and the potential for reconfigurability.