Optical arbitrary waveform characterization via dual-quadrature spectral interferometry

We introduce the use of dual-quadrature spectral interferometry for amplitude and phase characterization of 100% duty factor optical arbitrary waveforms generated via spectral line-by-line pulse shaping. We demonstrate this technique for measurement of optical arbitrary waveforms composed of similar to 30 spectral lines from a 10 GHz frequency comb with 1.4 mu s data acquisition time at an average power level of 10 microwatts. We then demonstrate coherent spectral phase measurements of pulses strongly dispersed by propagation over 50km of optical fiber. (C) 2008 Optical Society of America