Generation of 0.64-THz-width optical sidebands by a novel electrooptic modulator for the purpose of forming ultrashort optical pulses

A novel type of electrooptic phase modulator suitable for deep modulation at higher frequencies has been designed and constructed. This modulator can produce an extremely broad optical sideband, which is useful for forming ultrashort optical pulses. In experiments, phase modulation with a modulation index of 34 rad has been successfully obtained at 9.35 GHz, and thereby optical sidebands extending over as wide as 640 GHz have been attained. The sidebands produced are broad enough to form single-picosecond pulses using the chirping-compression method.