Technique for multiplying the repetition rates of periodic trains of pulses by means of a temporal self-imaging effect in chirped fiber gratings

We show that a temporal effect that is equivalent to the spatial self-imaging (Talbot) effect applies to the reflection of periodic signals from linearly chirped fiber gratings. The effect can be used for multiplying the repetition frequency of a given periodic pulse train without distorting the individual pulse characteristics. The practical limit on the frequency-multiplication factor depends only on the temporal width of the individual pulse. Thus we demonstrate that a suitable combination of well-known techniques for short-pulse generation, such as pulse mode locking, and the technique proposed here allows us to obtain short-pulse trains with ultrahigh repetition rates (in the terahertz regime). Results from simulations show good agreement with those predicted by theory. (C) 1999 Optical Society of America.