Programmable optical waveform reshaping on a picosecond timescale

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates a method for reshaping optical waveforms in the telecom band on a picosecond timescale using quantum frequency conversion in a nonlinear waveguide, enabling advanced quantum communication functionalities.

Contribution

It introduces a programmable optical waveform reshaping technique that operates without wavelength translation, using a tailored pump pulse in a $ ext{chi}^{(2)}$ waveguide, which is novel in quantum photonics.

Findings

Successful reshaping of single-peak into double-peak pulses

Conversion of exponential decay into near-Gaussian pulses

Reshaping occurs on a picosecond timescale

Abstract

We experimentally demonstrate temporal reshaping of optical waveforms in the telecom wavelength band using the principle of quantum frequency conversion. The reshaped optical pulses do not undergo any wavelength translation. The interaction takes place in a nonlinear $\chi^{(2)}$ waveguide using an appropriately designed pump pulse programmed via an optical waveform generator. We show reshaping of a single-peak pulse into a double-peak pulse and vice versa. We also show that exponentially decaying pulses can be reshaped into near Gaussian shape, and vice versa, which is a useful functionality for quantum communications.