Generation of high repetition rate pulse bursts via femtosecond readout of a double-passed arrayed waveguide grating

In summary, we have shown that very-high repetition rate pulse bursts can be generated with an increased number of pulses by double-passing a small-FSR AWG. Equivalently, two identical AWG's could be interconnected back-to-back to generate the same functionality in transmission. The output temporal profile is determined by the autoconvolution of the temporal profile of an output channel in single-pass. This scheme shows promise for manipulating ultrafast optical waveforms via hybrid WDM/TDM optical processing. For example, with further engineering of the AWG structure, it may be possible to generate continuous very-high repetition rate pulse trains, as would be desired for a repetition-rate multiplication scheme of a lower-rate source.