Delay lines with tailored high-dispersion orders for periodic optical pulses.

We derive an expression for the temporal fractional Talbot effect in delay lines with arbitrary orders of dispersion. We then demonstrate, experimentally and by numerical simulations, that a simple device consisting of a number of uniform fiber Bragg gratings or of waveguides can serve for such a tailored dispersive delay line for periodic optical pulses. The device produces temporally delayed and phase-shifted replicas of the original pulses, similarly to what happens in dispersive delay lines in the fractional Talbot effect. Such devices can be useful for compensation for the nonquadratic spectral phase of diode lasers, of dispersive elements in systems used for temporal imaging, real-time spectral analysis, and periodic pulse generation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]