JOURNAL OF LIGHTWAVE TECHNOLOGY, VOL. 24, NO.

7, JULY 2006 2701

Optical Frequency Combs From Semiconductor

Lasers and Applications in Ultrawideband
Signal Processing and Communications
Peter J. Delfyett, Fellow, IEEE, Sangyoun Gee, Myoung-Taek Choi, Hossein Izadpanah, Senior Member, IEEE,
Wangkuen Lee, Member, IEEE, Sarper Ozharar, Member, IEEE, Franklyn Quinlan, and Tolga Yilmaz, Member, IEEE

Invited Paper

Abstract—Modelocked semiconductor lasers are used to gener- potentially simplify the operation and management of high-
ate a set of phase-locked optical frequencies on a periodic grid. The capacity optical interconnects and links. In addition, the po-
periodic and phase coherent nature of the optical frequency combs tential for exploiting the coherent nature of light opens the
makes it possible for the realization of high-performance optical
and RF arbitrary-waveform synthesis. In addition, the resulting possibility for spectrally efficient communications and signal
optical frequency components can be used for communication processing [1], [2].
applications relying on direct detection, dense wavelength divi- Modelocked semiconductor lasers emit short (< 1 ps) optical
sion multiplexing (WDM), coherent-detection WDM, optical time- pulses at high pulse-repetition frequencies (> 1 GHz) and can
division multiplexing, and optical code division multiple access. be utilized for a wide variety of applications, but are typically
This paper highlights the recent results in the use of optical fre-
quency combs generated from semiconductors for ultrawideband geared toward time-domain applications, e.g., optical time divi-
signal processing and communication applications. sion multiplexed (OTDM) optical links, optical sampling, etc.
It is interesting to note that the periodic nature of optical
Index Terms—Arbitrary waveform generation, heterodyning,
injection locked oscillators, modelocked lasers (MLLs), opti- pulse generation from modelocked semiconductor diode lasers
cal communications, semiconductor lasers, signal generation, also makes these devices ideal candidates for the generation
synchronization. of high-quality optical frequency combs, or multiple wave-
lengths, in addition to the ultrashort temporally stable high-
I. I NTRODUCTION peak-intensity optical pulses to which one is accustomed. The
optical frequency combs enable a variety of optical communi-
T HE DEVELOPMENT of high-speed communication in-
terconnects and signal processing is critical for an
information-based economy. Lightwave technologies offer the
cation and signal-processing applications that can exploit the
large bandwidth and speed that picosecond pulse generation
implies; however, the aggregate speed and bandwidth can be
promise of high-bandwidth connectivity from component de-
achieved by spectrally channelizing the bandwidth and utilize
velopment that is manufacturable, cost effective, and electri-
lower speed electronics for the control of the individual spectral
cally efficient. Most recently, the concept of optical frequency/
components of the modelocked laser (MLL). This paper will
wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) has revolutionized
highlight the recent results in using modelocked semiconduc-
methods of optical communications, however, the development
tor lasers for applications in networking, instrumentation, and
of optical systems using 100s of wavelengths present challenges
signal processing.
for network planners. The development of compact efficient
An example of the flexibility and utility of modelocked
optical sources capable of generating a multiplicity of optical
optical pulses/optical frequency combs in ultrahigh-capacity
frequencies/wavelength channels from a single device could
communications and signal processing is shown in Fig. 1. This
figure shows three possibilities of how optical frequency combs
Manuscript received November 14, 2005; revised April 10, 2006. This work
was supported in part by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency can be used in 1) analog or digital WDM formats, where each
(DARPA) [Analog Optical Signal Processing (AOSP) and optical code division comb line is independently modulated and coherently detected
multiple access (OCDMA) programs], the National Science Foundation’s ITR using combs from a separate synchronized receiver MLL,
and Science and Technology Center (STC) Center for Materials and Devices
for Information Technology Research (CMDITR) programs, Air Force Rome 2) ultrahigh-speed OTDM formats, where the high data rate
Labs, and Office of Naval Research Multi-University Research Initiative (ONR- pulse sequences are temporally demultiplexed by the synchro-
MURI). nized receiver MLL, and 3) optical code division multiplexed
The authors are with the College of Optics and Photonics, Florida Photonics
Center of Excellence (FPCE), Center for Research and Education in Optics formats, where the transmitted pulses are modulated using
and Lasers (CREOL), University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL 32816 USA ON –OFF keying, and subsequently, spectrally phase encoded,
(e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; with the reception being performed by coherent homodyne de-
[email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected];
[email protected]; [email protected]). tection using the synchronized receiver MLL. The key aspects
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/JLT.2006.875948 of this approach are to use the optical-frequency-comb source

0733-8724/$20.00 © 2006 IEEE

2702 JOURNAL OF LIGHTWAVE TECHNOLOGY, VOL. 24, NO. 7, JULY 2006

Fig. 1. Use of optical frequency combs for time-domain, frequency-domain, and code-domain modulation formats.

Fig. 2. Chip scale optical waveform generator and waveform detector based on optical spectral synthesis.

in three different modalities that exploit the fundamental nature locked semiconductor diode lasers [10]–[12]. In addition, the
of phase coherent optical frequency combs. These salient fea- demonstration of arbitrary optical and RF waveform generation
tures are 1) short optical pulse duration generated (for OTDM based on semiconductor optoelectronics provides a path for
formats), 2) narrow linewidths and multiplicity of optical fre- high-performance imaging techniques based on a chip-scale
quency components (for direct and coherent-detection analog semiconductor material platform that can be compact, efficient,
or digital WDM formats), and 3) spectral phase coherence cost effective, and manufacturable. A simple illustration of a
that will allow for frequency-domain-based coding techniques generic optical arbitrary-waveform generator (OAWG) based
(for secure optical code division multiple access (OCDMA) on Fourier-based frequency-domain processing is shown in
formats) [3]. Fig. 2, in which the axial modes of an MLL are frequency
A second important application of MLLs is in areas of mi- demultiplexed to allow the selection of a fixed number of
crowave photonics, optical pulse shaping, optical sampling for independent axial modes N . The amplitudes and phases of
analog-to-digital converters, and for digital-to-analog convert- each mode can be adjusted to serve as the coefficients in a
ers for arbitrary waveform generation [4]–[9]. A unique feature Fourier-series basis to generate an arbitrary waveform. Each
of optical frequency combs is their ability to synthesize optical mode is subsequently coherently combined using a spectral
and RF waveforms. The generation of arbitrary optical and RF multiplexer, and the resultant optical waveform is generated.
waveforms can be achieved by exploiting recent advances in To detect the signal, a second set of stabilized optical frequency
the generation of stabilized optical pulse trains from mode- combs is spectrally demultiplexed and optically mixed with the
DELFYETT et al.: OPTICAL FREQUENCY COMBS FROM SEMICONDUCTOR LASERS AND APPLICATIONS 2703

For simplicity, we consider the “short-time Fourier transform”

(STFT) (ω, t). In this formalization, we can obtain information
about the ‘time-varying” spectrum of a signal. Given that we
can specify the amplitudes and phases of the spectral compo-
nents from the STFT, we can reconstruct any arbitrary wave-
form, assuming that the STFT exists. The STFT is given by

1
STFT(ω, t) = √ f (τ )g(τ − t) exp(−jωτ )dτ (2)
2π
where f (t) is the reconstructed waveform and is given by

1 MSP (θ, t)
f (t) = exp(−jθt/2)dθ. (3)
2πf ∗ (0) Ag (−θ, t)
Fig. 3. Time and frequency representation of a modelocked optical pulse train
and waveform generation by spectral filtering.
In these equations, M (θ, t) is the characteristic function or
the two-dimensional FT of the magnitude squared of the
synthesized signal, on a mode by mode basis. In this way, the STFT; A(θ, τ ) is the ambiguity function; and g(t) is the gating
modulation and detection bandwidths only need to be as wide function [14]
as the axial mode spacing, and thus exploiting the truly parallel  
nature of this approach. MSP (θ, τ ) = |STFT(ω, t)|2 exp(jθt + jτ ω)dtdω

II. T HEORY = Af (θ, τ )Ag (−θ, τ ) (4)

The theoretical foundation of an OAWG is firmly rooted where

in frequency-domain-based Fourier-synthesis techniques. We     
∗ 1 1
generate the desired arbitrary waveform by synthesizing a time Af (θ, τ ) = f t − τ f t + τ exp(jθt)dt. (5)
2 2
varying intensity waveform by using a set of periodic phase-
locked (coherent) optical frequencies. The comb of optical In this formulation, one can either know a priori how the
frequencies is obtained by using an MLL. The laser operates at amplitudes and phases are to be modulated, and then construct
a pulse-repetition period of T , producing optical pulses with a the desired waveform, or, conversely, design the desired signal
pulse duration of tp . The corresponding optical spectrum of the and then generate the time varying amplitudes and phases
laser consists of a comb of periodically spaced phase-locked that, when applied to the modulators, will generate the desired
optical frequencies, spaced at 1/T, with the number of comb signal. It should be noted that the concept of frequency-domain-
components approximately equal to N = T /tp (see Fig. 3). based pulse shaping is well founded; however, in those archi-
One can construct the desired waveform by considering the tectures, the groupings of longitudinal modes are manipulated
optical-comb components as a discrete set of sinusoids that using liquid-crystal modulators, which limit the waveform up-
can be used to generate any periodic waveform by adjusting date rate to the kilohertz regime [4]. The current architecture
the relative amplitude and phase of each comb component. The provides for the highest possible spectral resolution that allows
generated waveform is given as [13] the pulse shapes to fill the temporal window between pulses
and also allows the waveforms to be updated at rates equal to
A0

K
f (t) = + Ak cos(kω0 t + αk ) (1) the modelocked repetition rate. It should be noted that advances
2 are being made in the modulator array technology that will lead
k=1
to improving the update rate in OAWGs [15].
where f (t) is the desired waveform, Ak is the Fourier coef- Some desirable output waveforms and capabilities of an
ficients for the amplitude, αk is the relative phase, and k is OAWG would be to 1) generate ideal optical sine waves that
the comb component. In this case, the generated waveform can should be continuously tunable over entire the OAWG band-
be an arbitrarily designed waveform, constrained only by the width, 2) generate ideal impulses where the pulse duration is
number of comb components and discrete values of the ampli- limited in duration by the optical bandwidth of the OAWG,
tude and phase. The fidelity of the regenerated waveform owing 3) generate every conceivable waveform within these limits,
to the limited k, discrete Ak , and αk can easily be quantified and 4) switch between waveforms as fast as possible. It should
by using a least squares error analysis. Most importantly, the be noted that this approach is similar to other frequency-
reconstructed waveform is periodic at the period of the MLL. domain-based pulse shaping, with the salient difference being
By extending these concepts to analog, time-varying values the spectral resolution used in each approach. In general, con-
of Ak , αk , one can generate arbitrary waveforms that no longer ventional pulse-shaping architectures operate on grouping of
appear periodic. This is depicted schematically in Fig. 4. longitudinal modes where the approach illustrated here operates
The case of dynamic spectral modulation to create arbitrary on individual longitudinal modes. This difference allows the
waveforms can be modeled using a joint time-frequency OAWG to possess the highest possible resolution in waveform
representation of the desired waveform f (t) to be generated. generation and fast update rates. In addition, the high spectral
2704 JOURNAL OF LIGHTWAVE TECHNOLOGY, VOL. 24, NO. 7, JULY 2006

Fig. 4. Schematic of the process of waveform generation based on dynamic spectral modulation.

resolution provides the ability to completely fill the temporal a value on the order of VPI , the applied voltage needs to be
window defined by the pulse-repetition rate. Finally, the OAWG “reset” such that the phase modulation can continue. During
possesses the capability to generate pure arbitrary CW signals this “reset” time, since the fall time of the modulator is not
as well as arbitrary pulsed signals. infinitely fast, the linearity of the phase modulation is inter-
rupted, thus, creating unwanted frequency components in the
generated signal. Fig. 5 shows a simple schematic for creating a
III. S IMULATION OF T EST W AVEFORMS serrodyned waveform, along with time- and frequency-domain
plots of the waveform and power spectra, respectively. Note
A. Time-Domain Interleaving for Arbitrary
that when the phase modulation is being reset, the temporal
Sinewaves and Chirps
waveform is corrupted, which results in additional frequency
This section shows simulations of some selected waveforms. components, or spurs, in the power spectrum. One possi-
The purpose of the simulations is to show the specific chal- ble solution to this problem is to use a time-domain-based-
lenges that may limit the performance associated with the interleaving approach to assist in suppressing the unwanted
frequency-domain-based OAWGs and highlight potential solu- frequency components associated with the finite bandwidth
tions for these limitations. The simulations are performed in of the phase modulators [19]. This approach is conceptually
Matlab. We use a set of complex optical carrier frequencies. The illustrated in Fig. 6, and described below.
optical-comb components are equally spaced in frequency, with The modelocked comb is split into two identical combs.
time-varying amplitudes and phases. The optical frequencies Waveform generation is performed on one comb set, while the
are coherently added to generate the desired signal. To illus- second comb set is OFF (intensity modulators in the OFF state).
trate some key challenges, the intensity of the desired signal As the applied voltages on the phase modulators approach
is calculated, since the receiver scheme for OAWGs rely on the maximum allowed value, the intensity modulators turn
the coherent optical hetero- or homodyning, where the mixed OFF these combs, and the phases are allowed to reset. As
optical intensity is photodetected. the combs from set one are being turned OFF, the intensity
To illustrate a key challenge, let us consider the generation of modulators of the comb-set two are turned ON, with the appro-
a single arbitrary sine wave. It is well known that by using the priate phase modulation, to continue the waveform-generation
comb of an MLL, well-defined sinewaves can be generated, but process. Thus, the OAWG generates two waveforms that are
only at discrete frequencies. On the other hand, the concept of temporally interleaved to create a single continuous waveform.
serrodyning can be employed to convert any one of the discrete In this case, the detrimental effect of finite fall time of the phase
frequencies from an optical frequency comb to an arbitrary modulators is suppressed, since the phases are being reset while
frequency [16]–[18]. This is most easily achieved by imparting the combs are OFF. This results in a generated arbitrary wave-
a linear phase ramp to one of the comb components (see Fig. 5). form without the creation of unwanted frequency components.
In this case, a time-varying linear phase ramp impressed on a In this geometry, the maximum modulation bandwidth required
sine wave results in a static frequency shift of the original sine for the modulators is equal to the longitudinal mode spacing, or
wave. The challenge of this serrodyning approach to generate the repetition rate of the MLL, which physically allows the lon-
an arbitrary-frequency results from the practical nature of the gitudinal modes to fill the bandwidth between modes. It should
common optical phase modulators, in that these modulators be noted that there may be different modulation algorithms
cannot be driven with continuously increasing voltage to in- to generate a particular arbitrary waveform. The particular
crease the phase. Generally, when the applied voltage reaches modulation algorithms to generate each waveform were chosen
DELFYETT et al.: OPTICAL FREQUENCY COMBS FROM SEMICONDUCTOR LASERS AND APPLICATIONS 2705

Fig. 5. Concept of serrodyne modulation. (a) Experimental configuration and mathematical representation. (b) Experimental results showing the original tone
and the shifted tone with spurs due to the finite fall time of the phase modulator.

Fig. 6. Use of two frequency comb sets in a time-domain-interleaving configuration for the suppression of spurs.

to allow for analog waveforms applied to the phase modulators To further illustrate the operation of the OAWG using the
and digital waveforms applied to the amplitude modulators. time-domain interleaving for spur suppression and some inher-
This was done to exploit the excellent linearity inherent in ent challenges, simulations of several waveforms were gener-
many phase modulators, and reduce the linearity requirement ated. These waveforms were 1) an arbitrary single tone, 2) two
for amplitude modulators. It should be noted that in addition arbitrary tones, 3) a linear RF chirp, and 4) a unit step tone.
to the generation of arbitrary optical waveforms, arbitrary RF
waveforms can also be generated by optically detecting the
B. Arbitrary Single Tone via Serrodyning
individual signals from both AWGs and electrically combining
the photocurrents. In this case, one has the ability to perform An arbitrary single RF tone can be achieved by combining
both coherent and incoherent addition of the optical fields. two optical frequency components, with a frequency separation
2706 JOURNAL OF LIGHTWAVE TECHNOLOGY, VOL. 24, NO. 7, JULY 2006

Fig. 7. Timing diagram of the applied signals to individual comb components to generate a single arbitrary tone, using time-domain interleaving for spur
suppression.

Fig. 8. Simulated plots of the generated waveform for the arbitrary single-tone timing diagram in Fig. 7.

∆f near the desired frequency ∆f + δf . The desired RF single tone with serrodyning, as required by the time-domain-
waveform is obtained by impressing linear phase modulation interleaving concept to avoid spurs generated from the finite
onto one of the carriers and combining the result onto a photo- reset time of the phase modulators. Note that as the phase is
detector. The derivative of the time-varying voltage applied to returning to 0 V in AWG 1, the intensity of that comb compo-
the phase modulator determines the addition frequency shift δf . nent is zero, and the waveform-generation process is governed
Thus, in general, the frequency shift obtained is inversely equal by AWG 2. Fig. 8(a)–(c) shows the temporal output from the
to the time it takes for the phase modulator to vary from zero individual waveform generators, highlighting the intensity and
to VPI . In Fig. 7, we show the timing diagram for the applied phase variations, while Fig. 8(d) shows how each of the three
voltages, as applied to both coherent comb sets, to realize the temporal segments represented by Fig. 8(a)–(c) are temporally
desired intensity and phase modulation to achieve an arbitrary interleaved to generate a continuous arbitrary RF tone.
DELFYETT et al.: OPTICAL FREQUENCY COMBS FROM SEMICONDUCTOR LASERS AND APPLICATIONS 2707

Fig. 9. Timing diagram of the applied signals to individual comb components to generate an arbitrary tone signal.

Fig. 10. Simulated plots of the generated waveform for the arbitrary two-tone timing diagram in Fig. 9.

C. Two Arbitrary Tones D. Linear RF Chirp

The arbitrary two-tone waveform is not directly obtained An arbitrary intensity modulated linear chirp can be con-
from an extension of the single-tone case. Nonetheless, by structed by switching between multiple-frequency-comb bins
using three optical carriers, one can obtain any two desired of the OAWG. As an example, the desired linear chirp can be
arbitrary RF waveforms and a cross-product RF tone at the sum generated as follows: The starting frequency is chosen to be
frequency of the two tones. By lowpass filtering, the desired the frequency difference from two carriers. Quadratic phase
arbitrary two-tone signal is obtained. Fig. 9 shows the timing modulation is applied to carrier 1, which chirps the signal to
diagram to produce a continuous arbitrary two-tone signal. The a frequency equal to the difference between carrier 1 and 3.
key penalty for this algorithm in generating a two-tone signal is Quadratic phase modulation is repeated on carrier one as the
that one requires twice the optical bandwidth for a desired RF carrier 2 is turned OFF and carrier 3 is turned ON . The process
bandwidth. In Fig. 10(a), we show the generated time-domain is repeated until the desired stop frequency is obtained. The
signal obtained by combing three optical carriers, with one timing diagram for the intensity and phase modulators using
center carrier and two optical carriers at higher and lower offset. the time-domain-interleaving concept is shown in Fig. 11. The
By phase modulation of the Stokes and anti-Stokes carriers, simulated time-domain output waveforms for the different in-
the two tones are generated. An additional RF component is terleaved temporal components of the composite waveform and
generated at the sum frequency and is shown in the power the corresponding power spectrum of the composite waveform
spectrum [Fig. 10(b)]. are shown in Fig. 12.
2708 JOURNAL OF LIGHTWAVE TECHNOLOGY, VOL. 24, NO. 7, JULY 2006

Fig. 11. Timing diagram of the applied signals to individual comb components to generate a chirped signal.

Fig. 12. Simulated plots of the generated waveform for the chirp timing diagram in Fig. 11.

E. Single-Tone Unit Step Function

the large bandwidth required that exist during the rising edge
An alternate algorithm to generate waveforms utilizes a of the generated waveform. We can achieve this by slowly
combination of time-domain interleaving and pulse shaping. turning ON a single tone with AWG 1 and designing a pulse
Consider, for example, the generation of a transient waveform, shape from AWG 2 that represents that portion of the generated
such as the single-tone unit step function. In this case, we are waveform that is not desired in the final output. By differentially
trying to instantaneously turn ON a single tone. The challenge combining the detected photocurrents, an approximation of the
arises owing to the limited bandwidth of the modulators and desired waveform is generated.
DELFYETT et al.: OPTICAL FREQUENCY COMBS FROM SEMICONDUCTOR LASERS AND APPLICATIONS 2709

Fig. 13. Simulated plots of a generated waveform using both pulse shaping and dynamic-modulation schemes to generate a “step-like” transition on a carrier
frequency.

The limitation of this approach is that the generated wave- there is no drift of the frequency comb with respect to the comb
form is an approximation to the desired waveform since the demultiplexer. To achieve this, the MLL must be frequency
shaped pulse is only an approximation of the undesired part of stabilized. Currently, the approach we are exploring for the gen-
the waveform generated by AWG1. The approximation is due eration of stabilized optical frequency combs is to construct an
to the finite number of combs used to generate the shaped pulse. external-cavity harmonically modelocked semiconductor laser
By using more frequency combs, a better approximation of in a ring configuration and incorporate an intracavity high-
the shaped pulse is obtained, leading to a better approximation finesse etalon that will serve to select the operation of a single
to the desired waveform. In Fig. 13, we show the waveform longitudinal mode grouping [20]. This technique was shown
generated from AWG1 [Fig. 13(a)] and an approximation of to be instrumental in developing ultralow timing-jitter optical
the shaped pulse from AWG2 [Fig. 13(b)]. The differentially pulses and is called “supermode suppression” [21]. In addition,
combined photocurrent is shown of the desired waveform we use a feedback loop to control and stabilize the laser [22].
[Fig. 13(c)], along with the RF power spectrum of the generated The stabilization method is the standard “Pound–Drever–Hall”
waveform [Fig. 13(d)]. For comparison, in the RF power spec- (PDH) technique [23]. In Fig. 14, we show a schematic diagram
trum, we plot the power spectrum of a periodic square wave of the external-cavity MLL that employs an intracavity etalon
tone, which highlights the similarities and differences. Most to allow for the suppression of unwanted optical frequencies
notable is the broad spectral feature in the power spectrum of (supermode suppression) to generate a set of stabilized co-
the generated waveform, which results from the finite number herent optical frequencies. Additional stabilization and noise
of combs used to generate the pulse shape creating the rising reduction are realized using a second phase-locked loop that
edge of the desired waveform. minimizes the long-term low frequency noise.
The current performance of the optical-comb output is shown
in Fig. 15. In this figure, we highlight the output characteristics
IV. E XPERIMENTS of the comb generator, which show the optical frequency comb,
the intensity autocorrelation, a heterodyne beat measurement
A. Comb Technology
that provides information on the long-term frequency stabil-
To realize a functional AWG based on the dynamic Fourier ity and linewidth of an individual comb component, and the
synthesis of an optical frequency comb, the quality of the residual phase noise [Fig. 15(d), left axis], or timing jitter
optical-comb source will determine the ultimate performance [Fig. 15(d), right axis], of the modelocked comb measured to
of the AWG. In addition, since the optical combs must be de- offset an offset frequency equal to half the pulse-repetition rate
multiplexed for AM and PM modulation and, subsequently, re- [24], [25]. The average output power of the laser oscillator
multiplexed, the optical frequency comb must be stabilized so is 0.02 mW and subsequently amplified to 20 mW using an
2710 JOURNAL OF LIGHTWAVE TECHNOLOGY, VOL. 24, NO. 7, JULY 2006

Fig. 14. Schematic of a harmonically modelocked ring laser using an intracavity etalon to select a single longitudinal mode group and suppress supermode noise
competition.

Fig. 15. Output characteristics of the frequency stabilized harmonically MLL. (a) Optical frequency comb, (b) intensity autocorrelation, (c) heterodyne beat
measurement showing the frequency drift of the stabilized comb, and (d) residual phase noise plot, along with the integrated timing-jitter values.
DELFYETT et al.: OPTICAL FREQUENCY COMBS FROM SEMICONDUCTOR LASERS AND APPLICATIONS 2711

Fig. 16. Overlaid spectral plots of the individual channels of the frequency demultiplexer pair.

Fig. 17. Experimental configuration of the AWG.

erbium-doped fiber amplifier (EDFA). The output pulses are channel. The overall insertion loss is ∼ −7 dB, with a channel-
∼ 17 ps and are ∼ 4 times the transform limit, with a pre- to-channel crosstalk between the filter channels of ∼ −15 dB.
dominate linear chirp impressed on the pulses owing to the For some of the experiments carried out, a pulse-repetition
modelocking dynamics. frequency of 12.5 GHz was used to improve the channel-
to-channel cross talk. It should be noted that depending on
the filter technology, the dispersion characteristics may vary
B. Optical-Comb Frequency Channelizing Filter Technology
independently across each channel, which would lead to im-
In order to obtain access to the individual components of the pairments in the fidelity in the waveform generation. By charac-
optical frequency comb, the spectrum must be demultiplexed. terizing the dispersive property across each channel, the overall
This can be achieved by a variety of optical frequency filter impairments can be reduced by predistortion techniques applied
technology, the choice of the filtering technology being depen- to the phase modulators.
dent on the periodicity of the frequency comb. For MLLs with
repetition rates of the order of several gigahertz, the frequency
C. Waveform-Generation Results
demultiplexing technology can rely on etalon-based demul-
tiplexers, such as the virtually imaged phased array (VIPA) A prototype AWG was realized by using a fundamentally
filters or ring-resonator-based technologies [26]–[29]. The key modelocked external-cavity modelocked diode laser operating
aspects of the filter technology are the flatness of the filter at a pulse-repetition frequency of 12.5 GHz. This was chosen
channel, the crosstalk between the filter channels, the steepness to be twice the channel-to-channel spacing of the frequency
of the filter edges, the dispersion within the individual filter demultiplexer described above in order to improve the channel-
channels, and the dispersion across the full filter bandwidth. In to-channel crosstalk performance. A schematic of the setup is
addition, the filtering technology must be frequency matched, shown in Fig. 17. Only one AWG is experimentally used, since
with respect to separating the channels and remultiplexing the generated waveforms shown in this section do not require
them subsequent to modulation. As an example, in Fig. 16 temporal interleaving. The optical combs were amplified in an
are the overlaid plots of the experimentally measured fre- semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA)/EDFA amplifier chain
quency spectra of the individual channels from an etalon-based and subsequently passed through a dual grating dispersion
frequency demultiplexer that has been used for experimental compensator with an adjustable slit in the Fourier plane to limit
results described below. For this filter, the channel-to-channel the input bandwidth to 100 GHz and to suppress unwanted
spacing was designed for 6.25 GHz, with 16 output channels. background spontaneous emission. The laser produces optical
Owing to the etalon nature of the demultiplexer, the filter has pulses of ∼ 1 ps after dispersion compensation and contained
a free spectral range of 100 GHz, implying that the output over 40 comb components within the −3-dB bandwidth prior
combs separated by 100 GHz will be present on a single output to filtering. Owing to the fundamentally modelocked nature of
2712 JOURNAL OF LIGHTWAVE TECHNOLOGY, VOL. 24, NO. 7, JULY 2006

the comb source at 6.25 GHz, and the finite finesse of the laser shown in Fig. 21(b) and (c). Note the good agreement between
cavity, the individual comb components possessed a linewidth the experimentally measured outputs and their corresponding
of ∼ 50 MHz. simulations.
To test the potential performance of the AWG, we per-
formed the beat-note measurements between several indepen-
D. Coherent-Detection Communications and
dent comb components to determine the optical-comb fidelity,
Signal Processing
the linewidth of the RF beat note, and the optical comb-to-comb
frequency drift. The results of these measurements are summa- In this section, we briefly introduce and describe one ap-
rized in Fig. 18. The salient features in this data set are the proach of using the optical frequency combs for either detecting
measured high dynamic range of the beat notes (∼ 85 dB/Hz) an arbitrarily synthesized electric field (recall Fig. 2) or for
as compared to the microwave synthesizer used to modelock coherent communications using a set of regenerated optical
the laser, and the narrow linewidth of the beat note, which was combs at the receiver to serve as a set of optical frequencies for
resolution limited using a 100-Hz filter. The former shows that a local-oscillator receiver array. Recall that, in Fig. 1, we show
high-quality synthesizerlike beat notes can be achieved, and an illustration of using the optical frequency comb generated
the latter shows that despite the 50-MHz optical linewidth of a from a master-oscillator MLL (MO-MLL) as a set of discrete
comb component, the beat notes are all resolution limited below carriers of information. The key to our approach is the use
100 Hz. This shows that the optical phase noise is correlated of a second set of optical frequency combs from a local-
across the spectrum, and that the relative comb-to-comb drift is oscillator MLL (LO-MLL) that will serve as coherent probes
less than 100 Hz. in a parallel dense WDM (DWDM) coherent receiver-arrayed
To demonstrate the agility of the AWG, we generated modu- architecture. The second set of optical frequency combs can be
lated sine waves, RF bursts, RF chirps, and arbitrary-frequency made optically phase coherent by optically injecting a portion
sinewaves using the time-domain-interleaving serrodyne ap- of the MO-MLL light into the LO-MLL. The optical injection
proach. Fig. 19(a) shows the temporal outputs of a sinewave establishes coincidence in the optical frequency, phase, and
produced by two comb components, while Fig. 19(b) shows comb spacing between the two sources. The resulting phase-
the temporal output of the same beat signal being modified locked optical frequency combs can now be used in a variety
to generate an RF burst. Fig. 19(c) shows an RF spectrum of coherent homo- or heterodyne detection schemes [31]–[33].
of a two comb beat signal at 25.4 GHz and an RF spectrum In Fig. 22, we illustrate a configuration for a coherent receiver
of an arbitrarily shifted tone generated by the time-domain- in an optical code division multiplexed communication system.
interleaved serrodyne approach [30]. In the case of the serro- The desired coded signal is properly decoded by using a set of
dyned time-domain-interleaved case, the resultant RF tone is optical frequency combs phase locked to the transmitter. The
able to suppress the undesired spurs down to a level of −43 dB receiver local-oscillator combs have either the identical code or
below the carrier. This level of spur suppression is currently the code conjugate. The received signal is coherently detected,
limited to the extinction ratio (∼ −20 dB) of the intensity on a comb-by-comb basis, with the resultant beat signal of each
modulators used in generating the waveform. Current state- channel summed coherently in the electrical domain to recon-
of-the-art intensity modulators have been shown to possess struct and detect the received signal, completely suppressing the
extinction ratios on the order of 60 dB, which could lead to multiuser interference.
a spur suppression on the order of −120 dB. To support this concept, a key element is associated with
Fig. 20(a)–(d) shows additional temporal and spectral plots recovering a set of optical frequency combs phase locked to the
of the AWG using a dynamic modulation. In these data, a transmitter. This can be achieved by optical injecting at least
12.5-GHz RF tone, generated by combining two comb com- two comb components from the transmitter into a passively
ponents, is further modulated using a conventional LiNbO3 MLL [34]–[36]. The salient feature for the requirement of at
modulator. The comb components were amplified with an least two optical-comb components for recovering a set of
EDFA, in order to measure the RF spectrum with high dynamic phase-locked combs is that, in addition to the fact that the
range. For these plots, the LiNbO3 modulator was dc biased at optical injection establishes the frequency and phase of the
quadrature [Fig. 20(a) and (b) and at the minimum transmission slave laser, at least two comb components are required to
point (Fig. 20(c) and (d)]. The resultant modulated signal is define the pulse-repetition rate [37]. In Fig. 23, we illustrate an
seen to ride on top of a modulated dc background, which is due experimental configuration for using optical frequency combs
to the background spontaneous emission created by the EDFA. for coherent analog and digital communications, where the
As a result, the measured RF spectra show the spectral peaks receiver local-oscillator combs are made to be frequency and
expected from the Fourier analysis, however, with added noise phase coherent with the transmitter laser by optical injection
bands, as exhibited by the broad pedestals accompanying the locking using two axial components of the transmitter laser.
discrete spectral components. In this experiment, the MLL operates at 6.33 GHz, to match
Fig. 21(a)–(d) shows an example of a chirp generation. the demultiplexer used in this experiment. Two axial modes
For this waveform, a two-comb beat signal at 12.5 GHz was from the master laser, S1 and S2 , are used as optical seeds to
generated and subsequently phase modulated using a sinusoidal injection lock the slave laser. A single axial mode M is the
signal. The typical experimentally generated outputs shown in channel that will carry either analog- or digitally modulated
Fig. 21(a) and (d) highlight the spectral and temporal char- information. The selected tone from the slave laser LO is
acteristics, while the data for the simulation of this case are used as the local oscillator for coherent detection. It should be
DELFYETT et al.: OPTICAL FREQUENCY COMBS FROM SEMICONDUCTOR LASERS AND APPLICATIONS 2713

Fig. 18. RF beat notes generated by selected individual optical-comb components.

Fig. 19. Experimental results of dynamic modulation, showing the generation of RF bursts, and arbitrary RF tones, using serrodyning and time-domain
interleaving.
2714 JOURNAL OF LIGHTWAVE TECHNOLOGY, VOL. 24, NO. 7, JULY 2006

Fig. 20. Modulated sine waves and their corresponding RF spectra.

noted that the seed tones, the modulated carrier, and the local To further determine the robustness of the injection-locking
oscillator are separate and distinct optical frequencies, to assure process, the recovered optical frequency combs were demul-
that the coherent performance is properly measured without any tiplexed and used as coherent local-oscillator tones to detect
added benefit of these signals being frequency coincident with both a two-tone analog signal and a pseudorandom digitally
each other. modulated signal. The performance of the link using both two-
The spectra of the master laser, the slave laser under passive tone analog modulation and pseudorandom digital modulation
modelocked conditions, the selected two tones used for optical is shown in Fig. 26.
injection, and the slave laser under injection-locked conditions In Fig. 26(a) is the coherently detected IF at 12.66 GHz
are summarized in Fig. 24. It should be noted that the external when the slave laser is not locked. The scan that is shown was
cavity of the master laser was configured with a diffractive chosen to illustrate a moment when the LO became randomly
grating s a feedback element to limit the modelocked spectrum, synchronized. Under normal unlocked conditions, there is a
which allowed the master laser to generate higher optical power complete absence of a regenerated IF tone. Fig. 26(b) shows the
per mode and facilitate the optical-injection-locking process. coherently detected IF and the associated two-tone modulated
The performance of the optical injection locking of the signals under the conditions of robust injection locking. Note
slave laser is summarized in Fig. 25. Both the injection- the strong recovery of the IF as well as the detected two-tone
locking power requirements and injection-locking bandwidth signal. Fig. 26(c) shows a high-resolution plot of one of the
were measured. An output characteristic of the slave laser that analog tones after filtering through a high-Q microwave filter,
exhibited a large reduction in the noise sidebands of the RF in order to obtain information on the dynamic range of the link
power spectra under injection-locking conditions was indicative for the current operating parameters. In this case, a dynamic
of the slave laser being locked. From these measurements, range of 60 dB/Hz was obtained and was limited by the optical
it was found that robust locking of the slave laser could be power of the individual recovered optical frequency comb used
achieved with ∼ −30 dB of injection power. To determine the in the coherent-detection process [38].
locking bandwidth, the master laser was detuned from the slave Fig. 26(d)–(f) shows the performance of the coherent receiver
laser by adjusting the applied RF frequency. With ∼ −20 dB of for pseudorandom digital modulation. Fig. 26(d) shows the
injection power, a locking bandwidth of 3 MHz was achieved. back-to-back eye diagram for the case of using a single longitu-
These results clearly demonstrate the robustness of optical dinal mode from master laser and directly detecting pseudo-
injection locking for synchronizing independent MLL sources. random digital modulation. The modulation rate was chosen
DELFYETT et al.: OPTICAL FREQUENCY COMBS FROM SEMICONDUCTOR LASERS AND APPLICATIONS 2715

Fig. 21. (a) Experimentally measured RF-chirp spectrum and (d) its time-domain counterpart and simulations of the (b) spectral and (c) temporal output,
respectively.

Fig. 22. Schematic illustration of the use of optical frequency combs and injection locking to realize a coherent OCDMA receiver.
2716 JOURNAL OF LIGHTWAVE TECHNOLOGY, VOL. 24, NO. 7, JULY 2006

Fig. 23. Experimental setup demonstrating the use of optical frequency combs, injection locking, and coherent detection for both analog- and digital-modulation
formats.

Fig. 24. (a) Output spectra of the hybrid modelocked transmitter laser (master). (b) Output spectra of the passive MLL (slave). (c) Selected two tones from the
master laser. (d) Injection-locked slave laser.

as 316.5 MHz, with a 223 − 1 psuedo random bit sequence detect the modulated carrier. The intermediate frequency is
(PRBS) bit pattern. Fig. 26(e) shows the performance of the 6.33 GHz suggesting that 20 cycles of the intermediate fre-
coherent-detection scheme, where a single longitudinal mode quency can be integrated to denote logical ones and zeros. In
from the passive MLL is used as a local oscillator to heterodyne this case, the slave laser is not injection locked, and hence,
DELFYETT et al.: OPTICAL FREQUENCY COMBS FROM SEMICONDUCTOR LASERS AND APPLICATIONS 2717

Fig. 25. Locking dynamics of the injection-locked passive MLL. (a) Series of spectra for increasing injection power. (b) Series of spectra showing the locking
range (fixed detuning and increasing injection power).

Fig. 26. Experimental results using the injection-locked combs as a coherent receiver. (a)–(c) Two-tone analog modulation and (d)–(f) 223 − 1 PRBS digital
modulation.

an envelope of the PRBS data is detected with a closed eye. optical frequency combs to generate arbitrary sinusoids, RF
Fig. 26(f) shows the detected eye diagram when the slave bursts, and RF chirps. We have also proposed the time-domain-
laser is under injection-locked conditions. The opened well- interleaving concept as a method to minimize undesirable
defined eye diagram, and its associated Q, implies error-free optical and RF spurs in the synthesized waveform spectrum
operation (bit error rate (BER) ∼ 10−9 ) for a received power of due to phase resetting limitations to ultimately realize endless
∼ −16 dBm and the conditions used in this experiment. operation at rates equal to the comb spacing, or pulse-repetition
rate of the MLL. The optical-frequency-comb set has also been
shown to be suitable for DWDM communication links using
V. C ONCLUSION
either direct detection or coherent detection where a second
Optical frequency combs generated from MLLs have been injection-locked optical-comb source is used for the receiver
shown to be ideal optical sinusoids for a variety of coherent local oscillators. Future work in integrating filter technology
signal-processing applications, specifically for both optical and with stabilized optical-frequency-comb sources will assist in
RF arbitrary waveform generation, and for coherent receiver suppressing the detrimental environmental effects that cause
architectures. The key in these applications is the need for path length changes in the frequency multiplexing and de-
the optical-frequency-comb generation (and regeneration) to multiplexing stages. It is anticipated that as better-integrated
be robust and stable. We have demonstrated the use of the filter technology and ease of packaging and stabilizing optical
2718 JOURNAL OF LIGHTWAVE TECHNOLOGY, VOL. 24, NO. 7, JULY 2006

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trary waveform generation,” in Proc. SPIE—Int. Soc. Opt. Eng., 2005, ceived the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering
vol. 5814, pp. 79–83. from the City University of New York in 1988.
[20] G. T. Harvey and L. F. Mollenauer, “Harmonically mode- He then joined Bell Communication Research
locked fiber ring laser with an internal Fabry–Pérot stabilizer as a member of the Technical Staff, where he
for soliton transmission,” Opt. Lett., vol. 18, no. 2, pp. 107–109, concentrated his efforts toward generating ultrafast
Jan. 1993. high-power optical pulses from semiconductor diode
[21] C. M. DePriest, T. Yilmaz, P. J. Delfyett, Jr., S. Etemad, A. Braun, and lasers, for applications in applied photonic networks.
J. Abeles, “Ultralow noise and supermode suppression in an actively He joined the faculty at the School of Optics and
mode-locked external-cavity semiconductor diode ring laser,” Opt. Lett., the Center for Research and Education in Optics
vol. 27, no. 9, pp. 719–721, May 2002. and Lasers (CREOL), University of Central Florida,
[22] S. Gee, F. Quinlan, S. Ozharar, and P. J. Delfyett, “Simultaneous op- Orlando, in 1993, where he currently holds the positions of University Trustee
tical comb frequency stabilization and super mode noise suppression Chair Professor of optics, electrical and computer engineering, and physics. He
of harmonically modelocked semiconductor ring laser using an intracav- has published over 400 articles in refereed journals and conference proceedings
ity etalon,” IEEE Photon. Technol. Lett., vol. 17, no. 1, pp. 199–201, and has been awarded 18 U.S. patents.
Jan. 2005. Dr. Delfyett is a Fellow of the Optical Society of America (OSA) and the
[23] R. W. P. Drever, J. L. Hall, F. V. Kowalski, J. Hough, G. M. Ford, A. J. IEEE/Lasers and Electro-Optics Society (LEOS), and he is Editor-in-Chief
Munley, and H. Ward, “Laser phase and frequency stabilization using an of the IEEE JOURNAL OF SELECTED TOPICS IN QUANTUM ELECTRONICS
optical resonator,” Appl. Phys. B, Photophys. Laser Chem., vol. 31, no. 2, (JSTQE). He is also the recipient of the National Science Foundation’s (NSF’s)
pp. 97–105, Jun. 1983. Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) Award
[24] T. Yilmaz, C. M. DePriest, A. Braun, J. Abeles, and P. J. Delfyett, Jr., and University of Central Florida’s Pegasus Professor Award, which is the
“Residual phase noise and longitudinal mode linewidth measurements highest honor awarded by the University.
DELFYETT et al.: OPTICAL FREQUENCY COMBS FROM SEMICONDUCTOR LASERS AND APPLICATIONS 2719

Sangyoun Gee received the Ph.D. degree in physics Wangkuen Lee (M’04) received the B.S. and M.S.
from the University of Central Florida, Orlando, degrees in physics from Pusan National University,
in 2000. Pusan, Korea, in 1997 and 1999, respectively, and
He is currently a Research Scientist at the Center the M.S. degree in optics from Center for Research
for Research and Education in Optics and Lasers and Education in Optics and Lasers (CREOL), Uni-
(CREOL), University of Central Florida (UCF). versity of Central Florida, Orlando, in 2002. He is
His research interests include femtosecond pulse currently working toward the Ph.D. degree in optics
generation, high-power semiconductor lasers, and at CREOL, where he is pursing optical CDMA as his
low-noise modelocked pulse generation and its research topic.
applications.
Dr. Gee is a member of Optical Society of
America (OSA).

Sarper Ozharar (M’01) received the B.S. degree

in physics from Koç University, Istanbul, Turkey,
Myoung-Taek Choi received the M.S. and Ph.D. in 2002 and the M.S. degree in optics from the
degrees in physics from the Korea Advanced Insti- University of Central Florida, Orlando, in 2005.
tute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejon, His current research focuses on arbitrary wave-
Korea, in 1991 and 1997, respectively. After two form generation, novel cavity modulation schemes,
years of postdoctoral work, he has been working and low-noise lasers.
toward a second Ph.D. degree in optics at the Center Mr. Ozharar is a student member of the IEEE
for Research and Education in Optics and Lasers Lasers and Electro-Optics Society (LEOS), the Op-
(CREOL), University of Central Florida, Orlando, tical Society of America (OSA), and the Optical
since 2000. Committee of Turkey.
He has worked on semiconductor-laser-system
development and device design/fabrication. His in-
terests also include integrated optics, microwave photonics, and optical
systems.
Franklyn Quinlan received the M.S. degree from the College of Optics
and Photonics, University of Central Florida, Orlando, in 2005, where he is
currently working toward the Ph.D. degree.
His interests include low-noise modelocked-laser (MLL) sources and
Hossein Izadpanah (S’68–M’69–SM’89) received applications.
the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from
Sheffield University, Sheffield, U.K., in 1969.
He is a Senior Research Scientist at Center
for Research and Education in Optics and Lasers
(CREOL), University of Central Florida (UCF), Tolga Yilmaz (S’01–M’03) received the Ph.D. degree in optics from the School
Orlando. He has been working in the fields of of Optics, University of Central Florida, Orlando, in 2003.
microwave photonics systems, optoelectronic (OE) He then joined OE waves, Inc., Pasadena, CA, as a member of Technical
functional circuits, and Gigabit millimeter waves/ Staff, where he developed ultralow-noise optoelectronic oscillators. He is
fiber, LaserCom, and optical-code-division-multiple- currently with Raydiance, Inc., Orlando, developing short-pulse fiber laser
access (OCDMA) system technologies at Hughes systems. His research interests include ultralow-noise microwave photonics and
Research Laboratory (HRL), Bellcore, and the EE Department, Shiraz Univer- ultrashort chirped pulse amplification systems.
sity, Shiraz, Iran, for the past 32 years. He has more than 109 journal/conference Dr. Yilmaz is a member of the IEEE Lasers and Electro-Optics Society
publications and has been awarded 13 patents with several pending patents. (LEOS) and the Optical Society of America (OSA).