Femtosecond pulse shaping using wavelength-selective directional couplers: proposal and simulation.

The femtosecond pulse-shaping capabilities of wavelength-selective directional couplers are investigated. Numerical results show that, depending on the coupling length and coupling coefficient, one can achieve very different temporal shapes at the output of the directional couplers. For instance, temporal re-shaping of Gaussian-like pulses into Hermite-Gaussian pulses, parabolic pulses, square temporal waveforms and sequences of equalized multiple pulses with time widths down to the femtosecond range can be achieved using readily feasible fiber/waveguide designs.