SBIR-STTR Award

An all-fiber, fast reconfigurable comb generator capable of arbitrary frequency grid synthesis, while providing true continuous wave (CW) response and sufficient power to support multiple feeds for general reference and clock provisioning is proposed.The proposed comb will be constructed entirely of off-the-shelf telecom components, which will form the backbone of athermal, compact signal generation. None of the packaging issues associated with conventional comb sources (thermal stability, susceptibility to shock and vibration) are seen as an issue with our proposed technology. The comb source noise accumulation, carrier-to-noise levels and maximal output power will be modeled and design rules derived. A integrated model describing the operation of arbitrarily-spaced frequency comb that can be adapted faster than the microsecond scale will be used to propose a design for a prototype source. A feasiblity evaluation of the critical SSB modulator component will be performed as risk reduction.

Keywords:
Comb Source, Parametric Amplification, Fiber Optics, Ssb Modulator

A prototype all-fiber, fast reconfigurable frequency comb source will be constructed. This system will be capable of arbitrary frequency grid synthesis, while providing true continuous wave (CW) response and sufficient power to support multiple feeds for general reference and clock provisioning is proposed. The proposed comb will be constructed entirely of off-the-shelf telecom components, which will form the backbone of athermal, compact signal generation. The model developed in Phase I will be extended to include polarization and transient effects. Components from different vendors will be evaluated. Fundamental design variations will be tested prior to final prototype design selection that will optimize power, bandwidth, signal-to-noise, reconfiguration speed and footprint.

Keywords:
Comb Source, Parametric Amplification, Fiber Optics, Ssb Modulator, Telecom Components