Dynamic time expansion and compression using nonlinear waveguides

We have used coplanar waveguides made from nonlinear dielectric strontium t itanate and superconducting YBa2Cu3O7 electrodes to perform dynamic time ex pansion (DTE) and dynamic time compression (DTC) on fast signals with nanos econd duration. Experiments on 7.8-cm-long waveguides using bipulses with p eak-to-peak amplitude on the order of 10 V and peak-to-peak separation of a bout 1 ns yielded DTC of about -50%, and DTE of about +50%. The implementat ion of DTE in fast detectors and data acquisition systems at the analog-to- digital conversion stage could enable these systems to operate with improve d time resolution. The DTC could be used at the output of high-speed analog -to-digital converters or in radar applications. (C) 2000 American Institut e of Physics. [S0003-6951(00)02849-7].