Nine-channel mid-power bipolar pulse generator based on a field programmable gate array.

Area of Science:

• Photonics and Optical Engineering
• Materials Science (Lithium Niobate)
• Electrical Engineering (FPGA)

Background:

• Electro-optic reconfiguration of optical waveguide networks in Lithium Niobate demands complex, multi-channel arbitrary pulse sequence generation.
• Existing solutions often lack scalability or the required mid-power bipolar parallel outputs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present a scalable solution for generating arbitrary pulse sequences for Lithium Niobate electro-optic reconfiguration.
• To meet the need for mid-power bipolar parallel outputs with precise control.

Main Methods:

• Utilizing an externally clocked field-programmable gate array (FPGA) to generate pulse patterns.
• Implementing a system capable of producing positive and negative pulses with adjustable width and high repetition rates.
• Developing nine independent output channels with synchronization capabilities.

Main Results:

• The system achieves repetition rates up to 80 MHz.
• Pulse width is adjustable in 1.6 ns increments across nine independent channels.
• Each channel delivers 1.5 W of RF power.
• Synchronization with external optical network components is achieved via an adjustable delay clock.

Conclusions:

• The described FPGA-based pulse generation system offers a scalable and flexible solution for advanced optical waveguide network control.
• This technology enables precise electro-optic reconfiguration in Lithium Niobate systems, enhancing performance and synchronization capabilities.