Arbitrary Waveform Generator Based on All-Incoherent Pulse Shaping

An all-incoherent technique for the generation of arbitrary electromagnetic intensity profiles is presented. It is based on spectral filtering of a broadband continuous-wave light source so that the filtered spectral density function (SDF) becomes the user-defined waveform. After large temporal modulation and subsequent distortion in a first-order dispersive medium, the incoherent mapping of the filtered SDF to the time domain occurs. Finally, optical-to-electrical conversion in a fast photodiode allows the optical intensity to be mapped into the electrical domain