Research
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Nonlinear & Ultrafast Fibre Optics
Nonlinear pulse propagation engineering & applications
We tailor ultrashort optical pulse propagation for the control of selected nonlinear phenomena and towards desirable functionalities.
Recent experimental demonstrations include:
- Smart supercontinuum generation via on-chip adaptive pulse-splitting
- Controlled shock wave formation via spectral pulse shaping
- Dispersive wave shaping/colisions via "accelerating" pulses
- Spectral Talbot effect for frequency comb tailoring
- Modulation instability and soliton control via optical seeding
"Optical shock" generated from a tailored Riemann wave.
DFT technique (top) & FROG trace of femtosecond pulse bunches (right)
Advanced ultrashort optical characterization
We develop and implement state-of-the-art ultrafast optical measurement techniques:
- Second-harmonic generation based techniques (e.g. Frequency-resolved optical gating - FROG/XFROG)
- Kerr frequency conversion & Interferometric approaches (e.g. SPIDER)
- Real-time measurements techniques (e.g. Dispersive Fourier transform technique for spectral measurements & Time-lens technique for ultrashort temporal measurements)
Fundamental of nonlinear photonics
We study fundamental aspects of nonlinear dynamics such as complexity, randomness and self-organization:
- Nonlinear optical propagation (nonlinear Schrödinger equation - NLSE)
- Study of localized structures & soliton dynamics (solitons on a finite background, Akhmediev breathers, Peregrine soliton, Riemann waves, etc.)
- Modulation instability & extreme event formation
- Optics-hydrodynamics analogies (NLSE, NSWE, etc.)
Selected publications:
- B. Wetzel, M. Kues, P. Roztocki, C. Reimer, P.L. Godin, M. Rowley, B.E. Little, S.T. Chu, E.A. Viktorov, D.J. Moss, A. Pasquazi, M. Peccianti, R. Morandotti, Customizing supercontinuum generation via on-chip adaptive temporal pulse-splitting, Nature Communications, Vol. 9, pp. 4884 (2018)
- Y. Hu, Z. Li, B. Wetzel, R. Morandotti, Z. Chen, J. Xu, Cherenkov radiation control via self-accelerating wave-packets, Scientific Reports, Vol. 7, pp. 8695 (2017)
- M. Narhi, B. Wetzel, C. Billet, S. Toenger, T. Sylvestre, J.M. Merolla, R. Morandotti, F. Dias, G. Genty, J.M. Dudley, Real-time measurements of spontaneous breathers and rogue wave events in optical fibre modulation instability, Nature Communications, Vol. 7, pp. 8236 (2016)
- B. Wetzel, D. Bongiovanni, M. Kues, Y. Hu, Z. Chen, S. Trillo, J.M. Dudley, S. Wabnitz, R. Morandotti, Experimental generation of Riemann waves in optics: a route to shock wave control, Physical Review Letters, Vol. 117, pp. 073902 (2016)
- S. Wabnitz, B. Wetzel, Instability and noise-induced thermalization of Fermi–Pasta–Ulam recurrence in the nonlinear Schrödinger equation, Physics Letters A, Vol. 378, Issue 37, pp. 2750 (2014)
- B. Wetzel, A. Stefani, L. Larger, P.A. Lacourt, J.M. Merolla, T. Sylvestre, A. Kudlinski, A. Mussot, G. Genty, F. Dias, J.M. Dudley, Full bandwidth real-time measurements of noise in optical supercontinuum generation, Scientific Reports, Vol. 2, pp. 882 (2012)
- B. Wetzel, K.J. Blow, S.K. Turitsyn, G. Millot, L. Larger, J.M. Dudley, Random walks and random numbers from supercontinuum generation, Optics Express, Vol. 20, Issue 10, pp. 11143 (2012)
- B. Kibler, J. Fatome, C. Finot, G. Millot, G. Genty, B. Wetzel, N. Akhmediev, F. Dias, J.M. Dudley, Observation of Kuznetsov-Ma soliton dynamics in optical fibre, Scientific Reports, Vol. 2, pp. 463 (2012)
Selected highlights & monographs:
- B. Wetzel, F. Benabid, Striving for extreme solitons, Nature Photonics, Vol. 13, Issue 8, pp. 509-511 (2019) – Invited “News & Views” contribution
- B. Wetzel, A. Pasquazi, R. Morandotti, Water waves in optical fibers, Physics Vol. 7, pp. 48 (2014) – Invited “Viewpoint” contribution
- T. Godin, B. Wetzel, J.M. Dudley, G. Herink, F. Dias, G. Genty, B. Jalali, C. Ropers, D.R. Solli, Ultrafast single-shot measurements in modulation instability and supercontinuum, Optics & Photonics News Special Issue: Optics in 2013, Vol. 24, Issue 12, pp. 55 (2013)
- B. Kibler, K. Hammani, J. Fatome, G. Millot, C. Finot, G. Genty, M. Erkintalo, B. Wetzel, F. Dias, N. Akhmediev, J.M. Dudley, The Peregrine soliton observed at last, Optics & Photonics News Special Issue: Optics in 2011, Vol. 22, Issue 12, pp. 30 (2011)
- B. Wetzel, J.M. Dudley, M. Erkintalo, G. Genty, K. Hammani, B. Kibler, J. Fatome, C. Finot, G. Millot, F. Dias, N. Akhmediev New analysis of an old instability, SPIE Newsroom, Optoelectronics & Communications, DOI:10.1117/2.1201104.003697 (2011) – Invited contribution