2458 OPTICS LETTERS / Vol. 33, No.

21 / November 1, 2008

Design of an ultrafast all-optical differentiator

based on a fiber Bragg grating in transmission
Miguel A. Preciado* and Miguel A. Muriel
ETSI Telecomunicacion, Universidad Politecnica de Madrid (UPM), 28040 Madrid, Spain
*Corresponding author: ma.preciado@upm.es
Received July 23, 2008; revised September 4, 2008; accepted September 5, 2008;
posted September 30, 2008 (Doc. ID 99330); published October 21, 2008
We propose and analyze a first-order optical differentiator based on a fiber Bragg grating (FBG) in trans-
mission. It is shown in the examples that a simple uniform-period FBG in a very strong coupling regime
(maximum reflectivity very close to 100%) can perform close to ideal temporal differentiation of the complex
envelope of an arbitrary-input optical signal. © 2008 Optical Society of America
OCIS codes: 060.3735, 200.4740, 230.1150, 320.5540, 320.7080.

A first-order optical temporal differentiator is a de-
vice that provides the first-order derivative of the
complex envelope of an arbitrary input optical signal.
This operation is performed on optical devices at op-
eration speeds several orders of magnitude over elec-
tronics. These devices may find important applica-
tions as basic building blocks in ultra-high-speed all-
optical analog–digital signal-processing circuits [1].
Moreover, optical differentiators are of immediate in-
terest for the generation of optical monocycle pulses
from input-optical Gaussian pulses for ultrawide-
band systems, recently emerging as a solution for fu-
ture wideband personal access networks [2–4], and
generation of a Hermite–Gaussian temporal wave-
form from an input Gaussian pulse to synthesize any
temporal shape by superposition [5]. Several schemes
have been previously proposed based on integrated-
optic transversal filter [1], long-period fiber gratings
[6], fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) [7–10], and two-arm
interferometers [11].
In this Letter, we propose and analyze a first-order
optical differentiator based on an FBG operating in
transmission, with its inherent advantages (all-fiber
approach, low insertion loss, and the potential for low
cost). Regarding other in-fiber differentiators [6–10],
our approach requires only a single FBG without any
additional elements (optical circulator, coupler, FBG,
or cladding–core mode converter). It is worth noting
the output of the system, respectively, and t is the
time variable. We can also express this in frequency
domain as Fout共␻兲 = j␻Fin共␻兲, where Fin共␻兲 and Fout共␻兲
are the spectral functions of fin共t兲 and fout共t兲, respec-
tively, ␻ is the base-band angular pulsation i.e., ␻
= ␻opt − ␻0, ␻opt is the optical angular pulsation, ␻0 is
the central angular frequency of the signals, and j
= 共−1兲1/2 is the imaginary unit. Thus, the spectral re-
sponse (SR) of the ideal first-order differentiator is
Hdiff共␻兲 = Fout共␻兲 / Fin共␻兲 = j␻, the phase of which pre-
sents a ␲-phase shift at ␻ = 0, and the magnitude of
which is 兩Hdiff共␻兲兩 = 兩␻兩.
On the other hand, it is well known that the SR
magnitude and phase of an FBG in transmission are
related by means of the Hilbert transform [12,14]:
arg兩HT共␻兲兩 = HT兵ln兩HT共␻兲兩其, ln兩HT共␻兲兩 = C0
+ HT 兵arg兩HT共␻兲兩其,
−1
共1兲
where HT{·} stands for the Hilbert transform, ln de-
notes the natural logarithmic function, and C0 is an
arbitrary real number. Let us suppose a local ␲-phase
shift in HT共␻兲 at ␻ = 0 in a certain interval 兩␻兩 ⬍ W
where we can approximate arg共HT共␻兲兲
⯝ ± 共␲ / 2兲sign共␻兲, with W ⬎ 0 the radius of the inter-
val. We can estimate ln兩HT共␻兲兩 locally for 兩␻␧兩 ⬍ ␧ from
Eq.(1), applying the Hilbert transform integral [15]:

冕
that, although FBGs are typically used in reflection, 1 ⬁ arg共HT共⍀兲兲
using them in transmission offers interesting proper- ln兩HT共␻␧兲兩 = C0 + d⍀ = C0
ties. First, since the use of a coupler or circulator is ␲ −⬁ ⍀ − ␻␧
not required, the energy efficiency is increased, and
冕 arg共HT共⍀ + ␻␧兲兲
1 ⬁
the cost and complexity of the system are reduced.
Second, we have less sensitivity of the phase re- + d⍀ ⯝ C0
␲ −⬁ ⍀

冉 冊
sponse to grating-fabrication errors in transmission

冕 共␲/2兲sign共⍀ + ␻␧兲
than in reflection mode [12,13]. 1 W
In the remainder of this Letter we explain the the- + I± d⍀ = C0
oretical basis of this method, and, as example, a FBG ␲ −W ⍀
differentiator is designed, numerically simulated, I
and applied over several input signals. Moreover, we + ⫿ ln共兩␻␧兩/W兲 = ⫿ ln共C1兩␻␧兩兲, 共2兲
also compare the accuracy and length of several FBG ␲
differentiators. Finally, we summarize and conclude
our work. where ␧ is a sufficiently small value in the sense that
The temporal operation of a first-order differentia- we can approximate 兰−W
W
arg共HT共⍀ + ␻␧兲兲 / ⍀d⍀
tor can be expressed as fout共t兲 = dfin共t兲 / dt, where fin共t兲 ⯝ 兰−W ± 共␲ / 2兲sign共⍀ + ␻␧兲 / ⍀d⍀
W
and 兰−⬁
W
arg共HT共⍀
⬁
and fout共t兲 are the complex envelopes of the input and + ␻␧兲兲 / ⍀d⍀ + 兰Warg共HT共⍀ + ␻␧兲兲 / ⍀d⍀ ⯝ I, with I
0146-9592/08/212458-3/$15.00 © 2008 Optical Society of America
 November 1, 2008 / Vol. 33, No. 21 / OPTICS LETTERS
⬁
= 兰−⬁
W
arg共HT共⍀兲兲 / ⍀d⍀ + 兰W arg共HT共⍀兲兲 / ⍀d⍀; C1 is a
positive real number (arbitrary, since it contains the
arbitrary C0), and it is implicitly supposed that the
Cauchy principal value of the improper integrals
must be taken. From the positive solution of Eq. (2),
we finally deduce 兩HT共␻␧兲兩 ⯝ C1兩␻␧兩. Thus, since
arg共HT共␻兲兲 is uniquely related to ln兩HT共␻兲兩 [12], we
can expect that if 兩HT共␻兲兩 ⬀ 兩␻兩 is locally satisfied, we
also obtain the desired ␲-phase shift at ␻ = 0, and
therefore the entire phase (neglecting constant and
linear terms) and proportional amplitude of the first-
order differentiator SR in a certain bandwidth. It is
worth noting that taking the negative solution from
Eq. (2) leads to 兩HT共␻兲兩 ⬀ 兩␻兩−1, which agrees with the
spectral ␲-phase shift observed in [16] when approxi-
mating the integrator SR magnitude with a phase-
shifted FBG in transmission.
Since the SRs in reflection and transmission are re-
lated by 兩HR共␻兲兩 = 冑1 − 兩HT共␻兲兩2, the objective SR of the
FBG in reflection must locally satisfy 兩HR共␻兲兩
= 冑1 − 兩C1␻兩2 (a semicircumference function). Several
approximations have to be done in order to achieve
兩HR共␻兲兩 with a feasible FBG. First, we have a finite
bandwidth in a real system. Moreover, in order to re-
duce the complexity of the grating profile required,
we propose Gaussian and Lorentzian functions [14]
as approximation functions of 兩HR共␻兲兩 in the limited
bandwidth. In Fig. 1, the resulting approximation
and ideal bandwidth-limited functions are repre-
sented. Moreover, we have to take into account that a
perfect zero in transmission is impossible with an
FBG, but a transmission dip can be imposed. Finally,
in the grating design, we have to apply an inverse
scattering algorithm [17] to obtain the grating pro-
file.
As example we design an uniform-period FBG in
transmission on the ideas introduced above, where
we assume a central frequency 共␻0 / 2␲兲 = 193 THz;
we use the Gaussian approximation function in
兩HR共␻兲兩 with a FWHM of 0.56 THz, and we impose a
transmission dip −20 log共兩HT共␻ = 0兲兩兲 = 60 dB (maxi-
mum reflectivity of 99.9999%). By applying an in-
verse scattering algorithm, we obtain the coupling co-
efficient ␬共z兲, which is represented in Fig. 2, in three
Fig. 1. FBG differentiator SR amplitude in (a) reflection
and (b) transmission, corresponding to ideal bandwidth-
limited (solid curve), Gaussian approximation (dotted
curve), and Lorentzian approximation (dashed curve)
functions.
2459
Fig. 2. Grating profile obtained by inverse scattering in
different scales.
different scales for a clear visualization. Note that
the maximum coupling coefficient max共␬共z兲兲
= 6555.1 m−1, is a very high coupling value but is
within current technology. As can be seen, ␬共z兲 con-
sists of a strong peak at the beginning and an
asymptotic decay at the back, the end value of which
is 16.67 m−1 (0.254% of the maximum value). It is
worth noting that ␬共z兲 must not be excessively spa-
tially limited at the back in order to obtain the de-
sired transmission dip in ␻ = 0. Thus, the resulting
uniform-period FBG has a length of L = 10 cm, an av-
erage refraction index nav = 1.452, and a grating pe-
riod of ⌳0 = 534.888 nm. Figure 3 shows the magni-
tude and phase of the FBG SR in transmission,
HT共␻兲, obtained from numerical simulation. As it can
be seen, the phase of HT共␻兲 presents the desired
␲-phase shift in ␻ = 0. In the operation bandwidth,
which can be estimated as 400 GHz, the magnitude
of HT共␻兲 is approximately proportional to 兩Hdiff共␻兲兩,
and the phase is approximately linear (nondistorting,
pure delay).
Figure 4 shows the numerically obtained output
temporal waveforms for different input temporal
waveforms, comparing ideal and designed FBG dif-
ferentiator, where all the considered input signals
are spectrally centered at ␻0. In Figs. 4(a) and 4(b),
we consider the input waveforms of a 7 ps transform-
limited Gaussian optical pulse (with a corresponding
spectral width of 126.08 GHz) and its first-order de-
rivative, respectively, where both spectral and tempo-
ral widths are expressed as FWHM. As can be ob-
served, the FBG differentiator results are in very
good agreement with the ideal differentiator results.
The energy efficiencies, calculated as the ratio of the
output signal energy to the input signal energy in
decibels, are −37.065 and −26.328 dB, respectively,
for each input signal.
Fig. 3. Spectral response in transmission of the designed
FBG (solid curve) and the ideal differentiator (dotted
curve).
2460 OPTICS LETTERS / Vol. 33, No. 21 / November 1, 2008
Fig. 4. Temporal waveforms of the input pulse (dashed
curve) and output pulse corresponding to FBG (solid curve)
and the ideal differentiator (dotted curve), which are
hardly distinguishable in both plots. Input pulses of plots
(a) and (b) respectively are a 7 ps Gaussian pulse and the
first-order derivative of a 7 ps Gaussian pulse.
Finally, in Fig. 5, we show the dependence of the
differentiator accuracy and length on the FBG trans-
mission dip. We calculate the output pulse consider-
ing a 7 ps Gaussian pulse as input waveform for sev-
eral FBG differentiators in transmission, designed
with the same approximation function for 兩HR共␻兲兩
(Gaussian with a FWHM of 0.56 THz), with the
transmission dip varying from 20 to 80 dB. The accu-
racy of the differentiator has been calculated as the
degree of similarity between the FBG and the ideal
differentiator output signals, which can be estimated
with the normalized cross-correlation coefficient,
Corr [14]:
冉冏 冕 ⬁ nal de I ⫹ D ⫹ I TEC2007-68065-C03-02.”
Corr = max fout,FBG共t兲fout,ideal
* 共t兲dt
−⬁
冉冕
冕
⬁ ⬁
⫻ 兩fout,FBG共t兲兩2dt 兩fout,ideal共t兲兩2dt
−⬁ −⬁
where fout,FBG共t兲 and fout,ideal共t兲 are the complex enve-
lopes of the output signals corresponding to FBG and
the ideal differentiator, respectively, and * denotes
the complex conjugate. The length has been obtained
from properly limited grating obtained by the inverse
scattering algorithm. As it can be seen in Fig. 5,
lower minimum in transmission (higher maximum
Fig. 5. Grating length (squares, dotted curve) and cross-
correlation coefficient, Corr (circles, dashed curve), which
represents the operation accuracy. Thirteen FBG differen-
tiators are designed assuming the same operation band-
width to obtain transmission dip values from 20 to 80 dB
and are applied to a 7 ps Gaussian pulse.
reflectivity) implies higher accuracy but also longer
grating (ideal zero in transmission is achieved only
by a hypothetical infinite-length FBG). Moreover,
there are many factors that can decrease the trans-
mission dip magnitude, for instance, spatial nonuni-
formity of the fiber, which may restrict the feasible
transmission dip values in practice.
In conclusion, in this Letter we have presented a
simple approach based on an FBG in transmission as
an ultrafast all-optical differentiator. A key aspect of
this method is that, because of the logarithmic Hil-
bert transform relations between SR amplitude and
phase of an FBG in transmission, the required
␲-phase shift appears in the SR phase when the cor-
responding amplitude approximates the first-order
differentiator SR amplitude. We want to emphasize
the high energetic efficiency and simplicity of the re-
sulting scheme compared to other implementations,
since only a single FBG working in transmission is
required to obtain the first-order differentiator, with-
out any additional element (optical circulator, FBG,
coupler, or cladding–core mode converter). On the
other hand, depending on the application require-
ments and the design, the required length, coupling
coefficient, and transmission dip may be a fabrication
challenge.
This work was supported by the Spanish Ministe-
rio de Educacion y Ciencia under project “Plan Nacio-
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