Wavelength- and duration-tunable soliton source based on a 20-GHz Mach–Zehnder modulator and adiabatic Raman compression

Adiabatic Raman compression was employed to obtain wavelength- and duration-tunable solitons from a 20 GHz sinusoidal pulse train generated using a low-cost LiNbO3 Mach–Zehnder amplitude modulator. 25 to 0.8 ps pulse duration tunability was attained under adiabatic compression, while high-quality, low-pedestal solitons as short as 450 fs were still achieved outside of the adiabatic regime. Compressed solitons with similar durations were obtained over the 1540 to 1560 nm wavelength range.