Brillouin-based storage of QPSK signals with fully tunable phase retrieval

Saffer O, Marines Cabello JH, Becker S, Geilen A, Stiller B (2025)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2025

Journal

APL Photonics American Institute of Physics (AIP)

Book Volume: 10

Article Number: 060802

Journal Issue: 6

DOI: 10.1063/5.0241508

Abstract

Photonic memory is an important building block to delay, route, and buffer optical information, for instance, in optical interconnects or for recurrent optical signal processing. Photonic-phononic memory based on stimulated Brillouin-Mandelstam scattering (SBS) has been demonstrated as a coherent optical storage approach with broad bandwidth, frequency selectivity, and intrinsic nonreciprocity. Here, we experimentally demonstrate the storage of quadrature-phase encoded data at room temperature and at cryogenic temperatures. We store and retrieve the 2-bit states {00, 01, 10, 11} encoded as optical pulses with the phases { 0 , π/2 , π , 3π/2 } —a quadrature phase shift keying signal. The 2-bit signals are retrieved from the acoustic domain with a global phase rotation of π, which is inherent in the process due to SBS. We also demonstrate full phase control over the retrieved data based on two different handles: by detuning slightly from the SBS resonance or by changing the storage time in the memory scheme, we can cover the full range [0, 2π). At a cryogenic temperature of 3.9 K, we have increased readout efficiency as well as gained access to longer storage times, which results in a detectable signal at 140 ns. All in all, the work sets the cornerstone for optoacoustic memory schemes with phase-encoded data.

Authors with CRIS profile

Steven Becker
Birgit Stiller

Involved external institutions

Max-Planck-Institut für die Physik des Lichts (MPL) / Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light DE Germany (DE)

How to cite

APA:

Saffer, O., Marines Cabello, J.H., Becker, S., Geilen, A., & Stiller, B. (2025). Brillouin-based storage of QPSK signals with fully tunable phase retrieval. APL Photonics, 10(6). https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0241508

MLA:

Saffer, Olivia, et al. "Brillouin-based storage of QPSK signals with fully tunable phase retrieval." APL Photonics 10.6 (2025).

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