Third order dispersion and pulse compression in an optical time lens

A picosecond (ps) optical pulse has been synthesized analytically by combining three lightwaves of appropriate frequency, power and relative phase. This pulse has been compressed to femtosecond (fs) level by a time lens which is a combination of an optical phase modulator and a single mode optical fiber (SMF) of appropriate length. Third order dispersion (β 3 ) in SMF can increase or decrease the pulse width in the fs domain depending upon its value. Typical pulse width of 72 fs can be achieved with a repetition frequency of 2 THz with SMF length of 10 m and β 3 = 0. A positive value of β 3 increases the pulse width whereas a negative value of β 3 reduces the pulse width.