Optical arbitrary waveform generation (OAWG) using actively phase-stabilized spectral stitching

Daniel Drayss; Dengyang Fang; Alban Sherifaj; Huanfa Peng; Christoph Füllner; Thomas Henauer; Grigory Lihachev; Lennart Schmitz; Tobias Harter; Wolfgang Freude; Sebastian Randel; Tobias J. Kippenberg; Thomas Zwick; Christian Koos

doi:10.1038/s41377-025-01937-4

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Optical arbitrary waveform generation (OAWG) using actively phase-stabilized spectral stitching

Original Articles

- Optical arbitrary waveform generation (OAWG) using actively phase-stabilized spectral stitching
- Light: Science & Applications Vol. 14, Issue 11, Pages: 3676-3687(2025)
- Affiliations：
  
  1.Institute of Photonics and Quantum Electronics (IPQ), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany
  2.Institute of Microstructure Technology (IMT), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), 76344 Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany
  3.Teragear GmbH, 76227 Karlsruhe, Germany
  4.Institute of Radio Frequency Engineering and Electronics (IHE), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany
  5.Institute of Physics, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
  6.Deeplight SA, 1025 St Sulpice, Switzerland
- Author bio：
  
  Daniel Drayss (daniel.drayss@kit.edu)
  Christian Koos (christian.koos@kit.edu)
- Funds：
- DOI：10.1038/s41377-025-01937-4
  CLC：
- Received：01 October 2024，
  
  Revised：2025-05-30，
  
  Accepted：24 June 2025，
  
  Published Online：29 September 2025，
  
  Published：30 November 2025
- Accepted：
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Drayss, D. et al. Optical arbitrary waveform generation (OAWG) using actively phase-stabilized spectral stitching. Light: Science & Applications, 14, 3676-3687 (2025).
DOI：

Drayss, D. et al. Optical arbitrary waveform generation (OAWG) using actively phase-stabilized spectral stitching. Light: Science & Applications, 14, 3676-3687 (2025). DOI： 10.1038/s41377-025-01937-4.

摘要

Abstract

The conventional way of generating optical waveforms relies on in-phase and quadrature (IQ) modulation of a continuous-wave (CW) laser tone. In this case

the bandwidth of the resulting optical waveform is limited by the underlying electronic components

in particular by the digital-to-analog converters (DACs) generating the drive signals for the IQ modulator. This bandwidth bottleneck can be overcome by using a concept known as optical arbitrary waveform generation (OAWG)

where multiple IQ modulators and DACs are operated in parallel to first synthesize individual spectral slices

which are subsequently combined to form a single ultra-broadband arbitrary optical waveform. However

targeted synthesis of arbitrary optical waveforms from multiple spectral slices has so far been hampered by difficulties to maintain the correct optical phase relationship between the slices. In this paper

we propose and demonstrate spectrally sliced OAWG with active phase stabilization

which permits targeted synthesis of truly arbitrary optical waveforms. We demonstrate the viability of the scheme by synthesizing optical waveforms with record-high bandwidths of up to 325 GHz from four individually generated optical tributaries. In a proof-of-concept experiment

we use the OAWG system to generate 32QAM data signals at symbol rates of up to 320 GBd

which we transmit over 87 km of single-mode fiber and receive by a two-channel non-sliced optical arbitrary waveform measurement (OAWM) system

achieving excellent signal quality. We believe that our scheme can unlock the full potential of OAWG and disrupt a wide range of applications in high-speed optical communications

photonic-electronic digital-to-analog conversion

as well as advanced test and measurement in science and industry.

关键词

Keywords

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