High-speed optical sampling using a silicon-chip temporal magnifier.

We demonstrate a single-shot technique for optical sampling based on temporal magnification using a silicon-chip time lens. We demonstrate the largest reported temporal magnification factor yet achieved (>500) and apply this technique to perform 1.3 TS/s single-shot sampling of ultrafast waveforms and to 80-Gb/s performance monitoring. This scheme offers the potential of developing a device that can transform GHz oscilloscopes into instruments capable of measuring signals with THz bandwidths. (c) 2009 Optical Society of America