Temporal optical besselon waves

TL;DR

This paper introduces the 'besselon', a novel optical waveform generated by phase-modulating continuous light, with analytical modeling, sidelobe reduction techniques, and experimental validation at high repetition rates.

Contribution

The paper develops an analytical model for the besselon waveform, proposes sidelobe reduction methods, and demonstrates high-frequency pulse generation experimentally.

Findings

Successful generation of low-duty cycle, high-quality pulses

Sidelobe reduction via spectral phase shifts

Repetition rates up to 28 GHz achieved

Abstract

We analyse the temporal properties of the optical pulse wave that is obtained by applying a set of spectral $\pi/2$ phase shifts to continuous-wave light that is phase-modulated by a temporal sinusoidal wave. We develop an analytical model to describe this new optical waveform that we name 'besselon'. We also discuss the reduction of sidelobes in the wave intensity profile by means of an additional spectral $\pi$ phase shift, and show that the resulting pulses can be efficiently time-interleaved. The various predicted properties of the besselon are confirmed by experiments demonstrating the generation of low-duty cycle, high-quality pulses at repetition rates up to 28 GHz.