Ultrafast Optical Signal Processing: Devices and Techniques

New techniques for temporal signal processing in the optical domain are becoming increasingly important for practically all the current scientific and engineering applications. Processing the information in the all-optical domain offers the possibility to overcome the severe speed limitations of present electronic circuits. This book details the proposal, design and demonstration of fundamental all-optical signal processing blocks using fiber-based technologies. Some important applications of these basic blocks in optical signal processing, computing and characterization is also presented. Following the demonstration of ultra-large bandwidth photonic devices for processing of ultrafast optical signals, optical signal characterization techniques capable of accurately characterizing these devices and also the ultrafast optical signals interacting with these photonic devices are proposed, studied and demonstrated. This book should help shed some light on this new field, and should be especially useful to professionals in optical signal processing, or anyone else who may be considering utilizing optical technologies in sister fields of engineering and science.