All-optically tunable waveform synthesis by a silicon nanowaveguide ring resonator coupled with a photonic-crystal fiber frequency shifter

A silicon nanowaveguide ring resonator is combined with a photonic-crystal fiber (PCF) frequency shifter to demonstrate an all-optically tunable synthesis of ultrashort pulse trains, modulated by ultrafast photoinduced free-carrier generation in the silicon resonator. Pump-probe measurements performed with a 50-fs, 625-nm second-harmonic output of a Cr:forsterite laser, used as a carrier-injecting pump, and a 1.50-1.56-μm frequency-tunable 100-fs soliton output of a photonic-crystal fiber, serving as a probe, resolve tunable ultrafast oscillatory features in the silicon nanowaveguide resonator response.