Reconfigurable temporal fourier transformation and temporal imaging

Abstract

We present a multifunctional scheme to implement reconfigurable temporal Fourier transformation (TFT) and temporal imaging (TI) flexibly. This structure is composed of a time lens followed by a section of dispersive fiber with proper length. More specifically, the output waveforms presenting either the spectrum profile or the scaled waveform profile of the input signal are achieved by simply changing the length of the fiber, which is theoretically analyzed and experimentally verified. This proposal requires neither the use of an input dispersive device preceding the time lens nor a second time lens after the dispersion. Hence, it is a simple and practical alternative to the implementation of both TFT and TI.