Photonics Systems Group Photonics Systems Group Projects R.J. Manning Fatima Gunning Cleitus Antony Giuseppe Talli bob.manning@tyndall.ie

Photonics Systems Group Photonics Systems Group (PSG) State-of-the-art photonics laboratory Internationally recognised research Uses an enormous range of disciplines, from basic Physics to applied Electrical Engineering

Project 1: Chirp Characterisation of Optical Modulators Projects Project 1: Chirp Characterisation of Optical Modulators Dr Giuseppe Talli and Dr Cleitus Antony (12 weeks) Project 2: Raman Amplification for Fibre-to-the-home networks Dr Giuseppe Talli and Dr Cleitus Antony (6 weeks) Project 3: Characterisation of 2mm lasers Dr Fatima Gunning and Dr Hongyu Zhang (12 weeks) Project 4: Optical frequency shifter based on a semiconductor optical amplifier Dr Bob Manning (6 or 12 weeks)

Today’s Telecommunication Networks Optical access network (i.e. “fibre broadband”) is currently being deployed across the world in different flavours Fibre Access Network (Last/First mile) Copper

Project 1:Chirp in Optical Modulators Chirp in optical modulators changes the frequency (hence wavelength) of the optical signal Due to chromatic dispersion in fibre the different frequencies travel at different speeds LASER Optical Modulator Photo-detector Optical Fibre Correct colours for anomalous dispersion in fibre (eg 1550nm) Red is slower than Blue t t

Chirp in Optical Modulators Chirp in optical modulators changes the frequency (hence wavelength) of the optical signal Due to chromatic dispersion in fibre the different frequencies travel at different speeds Pulse broadening or compression Optical Modulator LASER Photo-detector Optical Fibre t t

Optical Modulators Chirp Characterisation Project Description: Characterise experimentally the chirp of different modulators: Mach-Zehnder Modulator Electro-absorption Modulator Integrated Semiconductor Optical Amplifier Electro-absorption Modulator Analyse the performance of the modulators in a fibre communication systems Numerical modelling using commercial software tools Experimental characterisation of fibre transmission No. of Students: 1 or 2

Optically Amplified Links Optical Amplifier ~80 km N × 80 km Tx Rx The signal is amplified in the optical domain No high-speed electronics is required Multi channel Bit rate independent In the 80s the fibre amplifier revolutionased the networks, getting rid of the repeaters and allowing for the first time to have transparent link from end to end, with no high speed electronics. This meant that is was very easy to add new channels and also that the speed of the channels could be upgraded without changing the link.

Raman Optically Amplified Links Raman Pump Laser ~80 km N × 80 km Tx Rx The same optical fibre used for transmission can be used to provide optical gain Raman Amplification Very attractive as it can reduce the equipment deployed in the field

Raman Amplification for Fibre to the Home Applications Raman Pump Laser Explore the use of Raman amplification for fibre to the home (FTTH) communication links Different wavelength from long reach systems (1.3mm) Newly developed pump lasers 60 km Tx Rx Project Description: Experimental characterisation of the Raman gain Analyse the overall performances of the FTTH communication link Numerical modelling using commercial software tools No. of Students: 1

Fatima Gunning, Hongyu Zhang Project 3: Characterisation and applications of 2µm lasers 4th year project (12 weeks) Fatima Gunning, Hongyu Zhang Photonic Systems Group Tyndall National Institute

Can 2µm be the 4th transmission window? lasers filters fibre detectors

Full optical high-speed systems tesbed 4th year project: Characterisation and applications of 2µm lasers (slotted Fabry-Perot lasers) MODEGAP meeting, Aston, 3rd/4th October 2013

2µm systems – 2013 Selecting Eblana lasers s available s requested old lasers MODEGAP meeting, Aston, 3rd/4th October 2013

Typical laser characterisation MODEGAP meeting, Aston, 3rd/4th October 2013

Objectives Understanding operational principle of slotted Fabry-Perot lasers Analysis of threshold current Tuneability against temperature High speed data characterisation

Project 4: Optical frequency shifter Semiconductor Optical Amplifiers (SOA)

Project description SOAs are very NONLINEAR When subject to high intensity light, their refractive index changes This can be used to impart a time-dependent phase change (or frequency shift) on a continuous wave (cw) light beam This can the be the basis of a frequency shifter Project consists of : Modelling of phase and frequency shifts using Fourier theory Experimental measurements to directly observe achievable phase shifts

Please Visit! For further information or if you would like to visit our labs giuseppe.talli@tyndall.ie cleitus.antony@tyndall.ie bob.manning@tyndall.ie fatima.gunning@tyndall.ie