Pulse compression and modelocking by using TPA in silicon waveguides.

We demonstrate a novel broadband pulse compression and modelocking scheme by using two-photon absorption in silicon waveguides. Experimentally we obtain greater than 20 fold pulse compression and 200 ps modelocked pulses. The free carrier lifetime and the width of the modulation signal are found to be two critical parameters affecting the output pulse width. Theoretical calculations indicate that optical pulses of less than 20 ps width are achievable by using the same technique.