Characterization and optimization of optical pulse differentiation using spectral interferometry.

A simple fiber-based spectral interferometry setup is implemented for characterizing and monitoring the amplitude and phase of ultrafast temporal waveforms generated by optical differentiation with a long-period fiber grating (LPFG). In particular, the system is applied to characterize subpicosecond odd-symmetry Hermite-Gaussian (HG) pulses, consisting of two pi phase-shifted temporal lobes, obtained by temporal differentiation of Gaussian-like pulses. This technique is ideally suited for optimizing the experiment conditions (e.g., wavelength shifting between the input pulse and LPFG transmission characteristic) so as to achieve a nearly ideal odd-symmetry HG temporal waveform (with a sharp discrete pi phase shift at its center), of potential interest as a higher order soliton in dispersion-managed optical communication systems.