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The generation of well-defined pulse forms and pulse Let us suppose fin共t兲 and fout共t兲 as the complex en-
sequences is required for a wide range of applica- velopes of the input and output of the system, respec-
tions. Particularly, flat-top pulses are highly desired tively, with t as the time variable. We can obtain a
for various important applications: optical gating, flat-top pulse fout共t兲 from a narrow-enough Gaussian-
nonlinear optical switching, and a wide range of ul- like pulse fin共t兲 if they are related by fout共t兲 ⬀ fin共t兲
trafast pump–probe experiments [1–3]. Fiber grat- 丢 rect共t / T兲, where rect共t兲 is the rectangular function,
ings offer their inherent advantages (all-fiber ap- T is the rectangle full width, 丢 denotes the convolu-
proach, low insertion loss, and the potential for low tion operator, and ⬀ denotes proportionality. The cor-
cost), and approaches based on fiber Bragg grating responding spectral functions Fin共兲 and Fout共兲 are
(FBG) in reflection [1,2], and long period Bragg grat- related by Fout共兲 ⬀ sinc共T / 2兲Fin共兲, where sinc共兲 is
ings (LPBGs) in transmission [3] have been proposed
the sinc function; is the base-band angular pulsa-
for flat-top pulse generation. The main drawback of
tion, i.e., = opt − 0, opt is the optical angular pul-
FBGs in reflection is that it requires an optical circu-
lator, or similar device, to separate the incident input sation; 0 is the central angular pulsation of the sig-
signal from the reflected output signal. Regarding nals; and j = 共−1兲1/2 is the imaginary unit. Thus, the
LPBGs, they present two codirectional modes in the spectral response (SR) of the FBG in transmission
output. should meet HT共兲 ⯝ HT,ideal共兲 = Fout共兲 / Fin共兲
In this Letter, we propose a flat-top pulse generator ⬀ sinc共T / 2兲, where HT共兲 can never exactly reach
based on an FBG operating in transmission. Several HT,ideal共兲, since an FBG has no zeros in transmis-
applications-based FBGs in transmission approaches sion. It is well known that the SR magnitude and
have been previously proposed, such as the disper- phase of a FBG in transmission are related by means
sion compensator [4–6], optical integrator [7,8], and of the logarithmic Hilbert transform (LHT), since its
optical differentiator [9]. It is worth noting that impulse response is a minimum phase function [6].
FBGs in transmission are not suitable for many ap- Thus, we cannot simultaneously impose arbitrary
plications because of the amplitude–phase relations 兩HT共兲兩 and ⬔HT共兲, in general. Fortunately, neglect-
of their spectral response [6]. However, using them in ing linear phase terms, we can assume that
transmission offers interesting properties. Besides 兩sinc共T / 2兲兩 and ⬔共sinc共T / 2兲兲 are LHT pairs, since
not requiring the use of a coupler or circulator, the the rectangular function can be practically consid-
system is easily scalable, the energy efficiency is in- ered a minimum phase function [10]. Indeed, if we
creased, the cost and complexity of the system are re-
duced, and FBGs in transmission have less sensitiv-
ity of the phase response than in reflection to grating
fabrication errors [4,6]. Moreover, the output signal
includes not only the processed signal within the
FBG resonant band but also the rest of the input sig-
nal (which is transmitted without any distortion),
which may be interesting in WDM systems. Figure 1
shows a schematic of the proposed system, where the
capabilities of this approach in WDM processing are
shown.
In the remainder of this Letter, we explain the the-
oretical basis of this method and design and simulate
two FBGs and apply them in transmission, in single Fig. 1. (Color online) Schematic of the system. An FBG
and concatenated configuration, to several input working in transmission shapes a flat-top pulse in the cor-
waveforms. Finally, we summarize and conclude our responding WDM channel. The output signal also includes
work. the signal in other WDM channels.
have an FBG with 兩HT共兲兩 ⯝ 兩HT,ideal共兲兩 ⬀ 兩sinc共T / 2兲兩, of ⌳0 = 534.888 nm, and a maximum absolute cou-
we automatically obtain ⬔HT共兲 ⯝ ⬔ HT,ideal共兲 pling factor max共兩共z兲兩兲 = 2858.87 m−1. Each zero
= ⬔ 共sinc共T / 2兲兲, where we neglect constant and lin- crossing of 共z兲 in Fig. 2 implies a spatial -phase
ear phase terms. shift in the grating, which implies a significant num-
Since the SRs in reflection and transmission are re- ber (about 50) of -phase shifts, but it is within cur-
lated by 兩HR共兲兩 = 冑1 − 兩HT共兲兩2, the objective SR of the rent technology, since FBGs have become extremely
FBG in reflection must locally satisfy 兩HR共兲兩 sophisticated [14].
⬇ 冑1 − 兩C sinc共T / 2兲兩2, where C · 1 is a real constant. Figure 3(a) shows the magnitude and phase of the
Several approximations have to be done to obtain FBG SR in transmission, obtained from numerical
兩HR共兲兩 with a feasible FBG. First, we have to apply a simulation. It can be observed that the SR phase
window function, since a FBG has a finite bandwidth. within the operative band, the width of which can be
Moreover, we have to take into account that a reflec- approximately estimated as 120 GHz, consists of a
tivity of 100% is impossible, but we can obtain a re- linear phase term (pure delay), plus the -phase
flectivity close to it. These approximations lead to shifts corresponding to sinc function.
To highlight the easy scalability of this approach
兩HR共兲兩 = W共兲冑Rmax共1 − 兩C · sinc共T/2兲兩2兲, 共1兲 and the potential for multiband WDM processing, we
consider a system composed by the concatenation of
where Rmax ⬍ 1 is the maximum reflectivity of the FBG1 and FBG2, a grating equivalent to FBG1 but
FBG, and W共兲 is a window function. Finally, in the with a different grating period and central frequency
grating design, we have to apply an inverse scatter- (⌳0 = 535.582 nm and 0 = 192.75 THz, respectively).
ing algorithm [11,12] to obtain the grating profile. It The system SR in transmission, shown in Fig. 3(b),
is worth noting the independence of this design on was obtained by using the transfer matrix method
⬔HR共兲, which is a degree of freedom and can be ar- [13] (it is not exact to calculate it by directly multi-
bitrarily chosen. However, we want to remark that plying the FBG SRs in transmission, since there is a
we have obtained the best results of the inverse scat- little overlapping band around 192.875 THz). Figure
tering algorithm by choosing ⬔HR共兲 as the maxi- 4 shows the numerically obtained output temporal
mum phase corresponding to 兩HR共兲兩. waveforms for different input temporal waveforms.
As an example, we design a uniform-period FBG in In Fig. 4(a), we consider FBG1 with the input wave-
transmission on the ideas introduced above, where forms of a transform-limited Gaussian optical pulse
we assume a central frequency 共0 / 2兲 = 193 THz, of 7 ps and spectral width of 126.08 GHz (both
and we will refer to this grating as FBG1. The desired FWHM width) with a central frequency of 193 THz.
SR in reflection, 兩HR共兲兩, is defined by Eq. (1), with As can be observed, the output pulse exhibits the de-
C = 1, Rmax = 0.9999, T = 50 ps, and the window func- sired flat-top shape. In Figs. 4(b) and 4(c) we consider
tion W共兲 used is a raised-cosine function with a roll- a signal composed of four transform-limited Gauss-
off factor of 1 / 3 and a total width of 400 GHz. To fully ian optical pulse pulses at different central frequen-
characterize the desired response in reflection, we as- cies (192.5, 192.75, 193, and 193.25 THz), each with a
sign ⬔HR共兲 as the maximum phase corresponding temporal width of 7 ps (FWHM). In Fig. 4(b) we ap-
to 兩HR共兲兩 (another phase could be arbitrarily as- ply the signal to FBG1. Note that FBG1 processes
signed). Using an inverse-scattering algorithm we ob- only the pulse within its resonant band. In Fig. 4(c),
tain the corresponding coupling coefficient 共z兲, we apply the signal to the concatenation of FBG1 and
which is represented in Fig. 2. It is worth noting that FBG2, and it can be observed that the resulting sys-
共z兲 is complex in general but can be assumed real for tem processes only the pulses within the resonant
uniform-period FBGs. This is legitimate provided we band of the FBGs. In both cases, the shapes of the
take a proper choice of the origin z = 0 [13]. The re- processed pulses are practically the same as shown in
quired grating profile has a length of L = 10 cm, an Fig. 4(a), and the output also includes the rest of the
average refraction index nav = 1.452, a grating period unprocessed pulses, which remain undistorted.