Fast Arbitrary Waveform Generation by Using Digital Micromirror Arrays

We demonstrate fast optical arbitrary waveform generation by using the MEMS digital micromirror arrays. The desired radio-frequency waveforms are achieved by properly shaping the spectrum of the broadband optical source via using micromirror arrays as a digital spatial light modulator preceded by wavelength-to-time mapping through the dispersive medium. We obtain up to 280-MHz sawtooth and 200-MHz square waveforms that can be controlled by using 1024 × 768 mirror arrays in the preliminary experimental results. Based on currently available digital mirror technologies, we estimate that arbitrary waveforms up to 1-GHz rate and reconfigurable in ~ 30 μs are achievable by using the proposed approach.