title: An optical FPGA: reconfigurable simultaneous multi-output spectral pulse-shaping for linear optical processing.
abstract: We demonstrate a pulse-shaping technique that allows for spectrally resolved splitting of an input signal to multiple output ports. This ability enables reconfigurable creation of splitters with complex wavelength-dependent splitting ratios, giving similar flexibility to a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) in electronics. Our technique can be used to create reprogrammable optical (interferometric) circuits, by emulating their multi-port spectral transfer functions instead of the traditional method of creating an interferometer by splitting and recombining the light with an added delay. We demonstrate the capabilities of this technique by creating a Mach-Zehnder interferometer, an all-optical discrete Fourier transform filter, two nested Mach-Zehnder interferometers and a complex splitter with a triangular-shaped response.
authors: Centre for Ultrahigh bandwidth Devices for Optical Systems (CUDOS), Institute of Photonics and Optical Science (IPOS), The School of Physics A28, The University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia. jochen.schroeder@sydney.edu.au
authors: Jochen
authors: J
authors: Schröder
authors: Michaël A F
authors: MA
authors: Roelens
authors: Liang B
authors: LB
authors: Du
authors: Arthur J
authors: AJ
authors: Lowery
authors: Steve
authors: S
authors: Frisken
authors: Benjamin J
authors: BJ
authors: Eggleton