Pulse compression using coupled-waveguide structures as highly dispersive elements

Pulse compression is experimentally demonstrated by using a coupled-waveguide structure consisting of an InGaAsP/InP semiconductor as a highly dispersive element. In this structure, waveguide dispersion associated with supermodes is significantly enhanced. The maximum temporal compression factor was 4.3 (compression from 2.2 to 0.514 ps). This result indicates that the coupled-waveguide structure has the potential for use in a simple, compact, transmissive, and sign-free dispersion compensator. (C) 1998 American Institute of Physics. [S0003-6951(98)03745-0].