Ultrafast technology in telecommunications

Author

Knox, Wayne H.

Author_Institution

Lucent Technol. Bell Labs., Holmdel, NJ, USA

Volume

6

Issue

6

fYear

2000

Firstpage

1273

Lastpage

1278

Abstract

Ultrafast optical technologies have produced pulses as short as 4.5 fs, and optical pulses continue to get shorter and shorter. But, in the meantime, telecommunications has continued to evolve to higher and higher bit rates and capacities. Most recently, optical data has been transmitted at 1.28 Tb/s over a distance of 70 km, leaving only 800 fs between the bits, and ultrafast optical sources have been demonstrated in novel WDM systems as well. We review some of the fundamental features of ultrashort optical pulses, and discuss what impact it has had and may have in the future of telecommunications. This paper is intended to be a high-level view and is based on a recent invited talk.

Keywords

chirp modulation; optical communication; optical pulse generation; reviews; time division multiplexing; wavelength division multiplexing; 1.28 Tbit/s; 70 km; WDM systems; broadband coherence; chirped-pulse WDM; optical TDM; optical data transmission; telecommunications; ultrafast optical sources; ultrafast optical technology; ultrashort optical pulses; white light telecom; Biomedical optical imaging; Frequency conversion; High speed optical techniques; Nonlinear optics; Optical pulses; Stimulated emission; Time division multiplexing; Ultrafast optics; WDM networks; Wavelength division multiplexing;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics, IEEE Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1077-260X

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/2944.902178

Filename

902178