Chromo-modal dispersion for optical communication and time-stretch spectroscopy.

Dispersion management is critical in many optical applications, whether to reduce impairments in fiber optic communication or chirp pulse amplification, or to create time stretch instruments for single-shot continuous recording of fast phenomena. The most common solutions for achieving large dispersion with low loss include dispersion compensation fiber, fiber Bragg grating, and diffraction grating pairs. Such dispersive elements have finite operational bandwidth, limited total dispersion, or insufficient power handling.

Digitally synthesized beat frequency-multiplexed fluorescence lifetime spectroscopy.

Frequency domain fluorescence lifetime imaging is a powerful technique that enables the observation of subtle changes in the molecular environment of a fluorescent probe. This technique works by measuring the phase delay between the optical emission and excitation of fluorophores as a function of modulation frequency. However, high-resolution measurements are time consuming, as the excitation modulation frequency must be swept, and faster low-resolution measurements at a single frequency are prone to large errors.

Coherent time-stretch transformation for real-time capture of wideband signals.

Time stretch transformation of wideband waveforms boosts the performance of analog-to-digital converters and digital signal processors by slowing down analog electrical signals before digitization. The transform is based on dispersive Fourier transformation implemented in the optical domain. A coherent receiver would be ideal for capturing the time-stretched optical signal.