Femtosecond Communication

Reference number: STC-PS-0676
Inventor(s): J. Diels
For more information, contact: Erin M. Beaumont (505-272-7912) or Jovan Heusser, M.B.A. (505-272-7908)

Patent(s)

7,593,643 (UNM-0676)

Background

The steady increase in volume of data transfer will ultimately lead to a need for a radically new approach to telecommunication. Incremental approaches in electronic speeds are reaching the physical limits of what is possible. With optical pulses of a few tens of femtoseconds (fs) that are routinely produced, digital communication could in principle reach a rate of tens of THz. The fundamental difficulty in exploiting the high potential data rate of femtosecond optical pulses is that the original signal to be transmitted is at a much slower clock rate, in the GHz rather than THz range.

Technology

Time multiplexing is proposed in an integrated optics approach, at the traditional wavelength of the present optical communication in fibers. Different approaches for the emitter, the receiver, and synchronization are proposed.

Applications/Advantages

Time multiplexing is promising for digital communication in the rate of tens of THz. The speed at which each channel is broadcast is not limited by the electronics any more. With time multiplexing approach, it is possible to exploit the fs capability of fs optics. And, the shorter the pulse, the larger the number of channels available.

However, in wavelength multiplexing, another approach promising for THz communication, the number of channels is limited by the bandwidth of the emitting/amplifying laser medium. Thus the shorter the pulse, the smaller the number of channels is available. In this approach, it is still the electronics that determines the speed at which each channel is broadcast. And it is not possible to exploit the fs capability of optics.

Downloads

• UNM-676 Issued Patent (709.71 KB PDF)

Related Categories

• Optoelectronics and Lasers