Generation of Optical Pulses with a Tunable Repetition Rate Using an Electro-optic Frequency-Shifting Loop

A scheme of generating optical pulses with a tunable repetition is theoretically analyzed and experimentally demonstrated based on temporal Talbot effects in an electro-optic frequency-shifting loop (EOFSL). A 3-GHz RF signal is used to drive a dual-parallel Mach-Zehnder modulator (DPMZM) in the EOFSL. Optical pulses with a repetition rate of 3 GHz, 6GHz and 9 GHz are experimentally produced by tuning the time delay of the loop, respectively. The amplitude fluctuation and timing jitter of the generated optical pulses are theoretically analyzed and experimentally evaluated.