Simon J. Fabbri

Bio: Simon J. Fabbri is an academic researcher from École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne. The author has contributed to research in topics: Optical performance monitoring & Multiplexer. The author has an hindex of 9, co-authored 33 publications receiving 449 citations. Previous affiliations of Simon J. Fabbri include Tyndall National Institute & University College Cork.

Roadmap on all-optical processing

Abstract: The ability to process optical signals without passing into the electrical domain has always attracted the attention of the research community. Processing photons by photons unfolds new scenarios, in principle allowing for unseen signal processing and computing capabilities. Optical computation can be seen as a large scientific field in which researchers operate, trying to find solutions to their specific needs by different approaches; although the challenges can be substantially different, they are typically addressed using knowledge and technological platforms that are shared across the whole field. This significant know-how can also benefit other scientific communities, providing lateral solutions to their problems, as well as leading to novel applications. The aim of this Roadmap is to provide a broad view of the state-of-the-art in this lively scientific research field and to discuss the advances required to tackle emerging challenges, thanks to contributions authored by experts affiliated to both academic institutions and high-tech industries. The Roadmap is organized so as to put side by side contributions on different aspects of optical processing, aiming to enhance the cross-contamination of ideas between scientists working in three different fields of photonics: optical gates and logical units, high bit-rate signal processing and optical quantum computing. The ultimate intent of this paper is to provide guidance for young scientists as well as providing research-funding institutions and stake holders with a comprehensive overview of perspectives and opportunities offered by this research field.

Exceeding the nonlinear-shannon limit using raman laser based amplification and optical phase conjugation

Abstract: We demonstrate that a combination of Raman laser based amplification and optical phase conjugation enables transmission beyond the nonlinear-Shannon limit. We show nonlinear compensation of 7x114Gbit/s DP-QPSK channels, increasing system reach by 30%.

4 Tb/s Transmission Reach Enhancement Using 10 × 400 Gb/s Super-Channels and Polarization Insensitive Dual Band Optical Phase Conjugation

Abstract: In this paper, we experimentally demonstrate the benefit of polarization insensitive dual-band optical phase conjugation for up to ten 400 Gb/s optical super-channels using a Raman amplified transmission link with a realistic span length of 75 km. We demonstrate that the resultant increase in transmission distance may be predicted analytically if the detrimental impacts of power asymmetry and polarization mode dispersion are taken into account.

Real-time high-resolution heterodyne-based measurements of spectral dynamics in fibre lasers

Abstract: Conventional tools for measurement of laser spectra (e.g. optical spectrum analysers) capture data averaged over a considerable time period. However, the generation spectrum of many laser types may involve spectral dynamics whose relatively fast time scale is determined by their cavity round trip period, calling for instrumentation featuring both high temporal and spectral resolution. Such real-time spectral characterisation becomes particularly challenging if the laser pulses are long, or they have continuous or quasi-continuous wave radiation components. Here we combine optical heterodyning with a technique of spatiooral intensity measurements that allows the characterisation of such complex sources. Fast, round-trip-resolved spectral dynamics of cavity-based systems in real-time are obtained, with temporal resolution of one cavity round trip and frequency resolution defined by its inverse (85 ns and 24 MHz respectively are demonstrated). We also show how under certain conditions for quasi-continuous wave sources, the spectral resolution could be further increased by a factor of 100 by direct extraction of phase information from the heterodyned dynamics or by using double time scales within the spectrogram approach.

Experimental Implementation of an All-Optical Interferometric Drop, Add, and Extract Multiplexer for Superchannels

Abstract: We present the experimental implementation of an all-optical ROADM scheme for routing of an individual subchannel within an all-optical OFDM superchannel. The different functions required of optical node were demonstrated using interferometric technique with the extraction, drop, and addition of individual subchannel in a ten subchannels optically aggregated signal. The scheme we reported enables a fully flexible node compatible with future terabit per second superchannel transmission.

What is a tutorial

Abstract: There are two kinds of tutorial articles: those that provide a primer on an established topic and those that let us in on the ground floor of something of emerging importance. The first type of tutorial can have a noted expert who has been gracious (and brave) enough to write a field guide about a particular topic. The other sort of tutorial typically involves researchers who have each been laboring on a topic for some years. Both sorts of tutorial articles are very much desired. But we, as an editorial board for both Systems and Transactions, know that there has been no logical place for them in the AESS until this series was started several years ago. With these tutorials, we hope to continue to give them a home, a welcome, and provide a service to our membership. We do not intend to publish tutorials on a regular basis, but we hope to deliver them once or twice per year. We need and welcome good, useful tutorial articles (both kinds) in relevant AESS areas. If you, the reader, can offer a topic of interest and an author to write about it, please contact us. Self-nominations are welcome, and even more ideal is a suggestion of an article that the editor(s) can solicit. All articles will be reviewed in detail. Criteria on which they will be judged include their clarity of presentation, relevance, and likely audience, and, of course, their correctness and scientific merit. As to the mathematical level, the articles in this issue are a good guide: in each case the author has striven to explain complicated topics in simple-well, tutorial-terms. There should be no (or very little) novel material: the home for archival science is the Transactions Magazine, and submissions that need to be properly peer reviewed would be rerouted there. Likewise, articles that are interesting and descriptive, but lack significant tutorial content, ought more properly be submitted to the Systems Magazine.

Fiber-optic transmission and networking: the previous 20 and the next 20 years [Invited]

Abstract: Celebrating the 20th anniversary of Optics Express, this paper reviews the evolution of optical fiber communication systems, and through a look at the previous 20 years attempts to extrapolate fiber-optic technology needs and potential solution paths over the coming 20 years. Well aware that 20-year extrapolations are inherently associated with great uncertainties, we still hope that taking a significantly longer-term view than most texts in this field will provide the reader with a broader perspective and will encourage the much needed out-of-the-box thinking to solve the very significant technology scaling problems ahead of us. Focusing on the optical transport and switching layer, we cover aspects of large-scale spatial multiplexing, massive opto-electronic arrays and holistic optics-electronics-DSP integration, as well as optical node architectures for switching and multiplexing of spatial and spectral superchannels.

Cascaded Logic Gates in Nanophotonic Plasmon Networks

Abstract: Modern electronics based on semiconductors is meeting the fundamental speed limit caused by the interconnect delay and large heat generation when the sizes of components reach nanometer scale. Photons as a carrier of the information are superior to electrons in bandwidth, density, speed, and dissipation. More over, photons could carry intensity, polarization, phase, and frequency information which could break through the limitation of binary system as in electronic devices. But due to the diffraction limitation, the photonic components and devices can not be fabricated small enough to be integrated densely. Surface plasmon polariton is quanta of collective oscillations of free electrons excited by photons in metal nanostrucrures, which offers a promising way to manipulate light at the nanoscale and to realize the miniaturization of photonic devices. Hence, plasmonic circuits and devices have been proposed for some time as a potential strategy for advancing semiconductor-based computing beyond the fundamental performance limitations of electronic devices, as epitomized by Moore's law. A variety of individual plasmonic nanodevices have been intensively studied recently, but the crucial and necessary step to enable nanophotonic circuits for future information technology, namely cascade logics integrated on-chip, has not been achieved. Here we demonstrate that a nanophotonic binary logic NOR gate can be realized by cascading plasmonic OR and NOT gates in four-terminal nanowire networks. We explain the operating principle for the device based on quantum dot luminescence imaging, which reveal the interferences for different logic functions between propagating plasmon wave packets in the nanowire network in great detail. Since the NOR gate is logic complete, i.e. any Boolean logic gate can be constructed from it, our results could have a key role in defining a viable path for the development of novel subwavelength optical processor architectures.

Supercontinuum generation, photonic crystal fiber

Abstract: A topical review of numerical and experimental studies of supercontinuum generation in photonic crystal fiber is presented over the full range of experimentally reported parameters, from the femtosecond to the continuous-wave regime. Results from numerical simulations are used to discuss the temporal and spectral characteristics of the supercontinuum, and to interpret the physics of the underlying spectral broadening processes. Particular attention is given to the case of supercontinuum generation seeded by femtosecond pulses in the anomalous group velocity dispersion regime of photonic crystal fiber, where the processes of soliton fission, stimulated Raman scattering, and dispersive wave generation are reviewed in detail. The corresponding intensity and phase stability properties of the supercontinuum spectra generated under different conditions are also discussed.