NRZ-OOK-to-RZ-BPSK modulation-format conversion using SOA-MZI wavelength converter

A novel all-optical modulation-format conversion from nonreturn-to-zero on-off keying (NRZ-OOK) to return-to-zero binary phase-shift keying (RZ-BPSK) is proposed. A Mach-Zehnder interferometric (MZI) wavelength converter consisting of integrated semiconductor optical amplifiers (SOAs) is utilized to implement the proposed format conversion. Error-free operation at a bit rate of 10.7 Gb/s is experimentally demonstrated in order to show the feasibility of the proposed scheme. The received sensitivity of the converted signal is improved by 2.9 dB compared with a back-to-back NRZ-OOK signal at BER=10/sup -9/. In addition, a reasonable dispersion tolerance of the converted signal up to /spl plusmn/500 ps/nm is observed. The numerical simulation based upon the carrier-rate equation verifies the experimental results.     

Electrooptic narrow linewidth wavelength tuning and intensity modulation of an erbium fiber ring laser

We report an electrically tunable fiber laser featuring a 50-channel wavelength switching capability with a 0.2 nm linewidth and -20 dB crosstalk. The laser consists of an Er-doped fiber resonator and an electro-optic TE-TM convertor used as a wavelength tunable filter. It allows wavelength tuning over a spectral range of 10 nm with a tuning rate of 0.05 nm/V and a linewidth of 0.06 nm.     

Pure frequency modulation or intensity modulation with suppressed frequency chirp using active Bragg reflector integrated laser

The modulation properties of a laser structure which consists of an active Bragg reflector (300 mu m) integrated with an uncorrugated gain region (600 mu m) have been measured. The laser exhibited a flat FM response and very low spurious intensity modulation when modulating the current in the Bragg reflector. Furthermore, broadband intensity modulation with suppressed frequency chirp could also be achieved. An inhomogeneous linewidth enhancement factor alpha caused by the uneven carrier density distribution between the two sections gives a qualitative explanation to our results.<>     

适用于PolSK调制的FWM型全光波长转换器

文章提出了一种利用半导体光放大器(SOA)中的四波混频(FWM)效应、适用于偏振移位键控(PolSK)调制的全光波长转换器方案.注入的辅助光可以缩短SOA增益恢复时间,增大饱和功率,提高波长转换效率.通过数值模拟从理论上实现了这种全光波长转换器,研究了输入泵浦光、信号光和辅助光功率对全光波长转换器输出特性的影响.     

Tuning technique to optimize input power of a cross-phase modulation wavelength converter

This paper proposes a tuning technique to optimize the input power of a cross-phase modulation wavelength converter (XPM-WC). The focus is on an output signal whose wavelength is the same as the input signal. The optimum input power can be easily set by keeping the output signal (not converted signal) power constant. Input continuous-wave (CW) power should be increased or decreased with increasing or decreasing input signal power so that the output signal power stays fixed at the optimum level. Observing the eye pattern of the converted signal is unnecessary. Wavelength conversion from a fixed optical channel to a random one (30 channels with 100-GHz spacing) is successfully demonstrated by using this technique. A low-power penalty (<1dB) and a low-power fluctuation (<1dB) were confirmed in all optical channels. An XPM-WC unit containing a variable CW light source and its level controller were fabricated and simultaneous and automatic operation was confirmed.     

Widely tunable 10 Gbit/s separate absorption and modulation Mach-Zehnder wavelength converter

A fully monolithic separate absorption and modulation region wavelength converter requiring no bias tees has been fabricated. The device consists of a transmitter comprising a sampled-grating DBR laser and series-push-pull Mach-Zehnder modulator, and a receiver composed of a linear semiconductor optical amplifier and a quantum well pin photodetector. The wavelength converter has a 13 GHz bandwidth and demonstrates error-free operation at 10 Gbit/s with unity gain     

Evaluation of intensity shape and phase change of light pulses withfrequency chirp due to self-phase modulation

A method for evaluating ultrashort light pulses is proposed. The temporal shape and the time-dependent phase change of the pulses is determined using self-consistent iterative calculations based on experimental data of the second-harmonic intensity autocorrelation and the spectra of the pulses. The self-phase modulation originating from the optical Kerr effect (OKE) and/or the saturable effect in the absorber dye solution is taken into account, and two parameters, the amount and the recovery time of the OKE, are introduced into the calculation of the temporal shape and the phase change of the pulses. These two parameters are chosen to give the best agreement of experimental and calculated second-harmonic intensity autocorrelation and spectra. The calculated results determined the lower limits of the recovery time of the OKE     

Wavelength dependent performance of a wavelength converter based oncross-gain modulation and birefringence of a semiconductor opticalamplifier

By exploiting pump-induced birefringence in addition to cross-gain modulation, we have obtained improved extinction ratio and reduced optical power penalties for a wavelength converter using a semiconductor optical amplifier. In the probe beam wavelength range of 1528-1566 nm, while extinction ratios and power penalties of a conventional wavelength converter are found to be 4.5-9.2 dB and -0.5-2.1 dB, those of the proposed converter are 6.6-10 dB and -0.7-1.0 dB, respectively. The proposed converter shows better performance for all wavelengths in the range examined for both extinction ratio and power penalty. Especially, more improvements have been obtained in the longer wavelength     

全光波长转换器及其研究进展

实现全光波长转换主要利用四种非线性效应，交叉增益调制（XGM）、交叉相位调制（XPM）、四波混频（FWM）和差频（DFG）效应。根据所用非线性器件不同，分别介绍了基于这四种效应的全光波长转换器的基本原理，系统结构、特点和发展现状，每种波长转换器都有其不足之处，针对这一现实，重点介绍了国内外最新的全光波长转换方案，这些方案在一定程度上改进了原有波长转换器的性能，促进了全光波长转换器的实用化进程。     

The influence of Coulomb enhancement on the modulation propertiesof quantum-well lasers

The phenomenon of Coulomb enhancement, resulting from the consideration of many-body effects, is included in a detailed calculation of the gain of a quantum-well (QW) laser, which is then used to predict the laser's modulation response. Carrier transport in the separate-confinement heterostructure is taken into account. The modulation response is compared to experimental data and to predictions from calculations using only the free-carrier gain. The comparison shows that the inclusion of Coulomb enhancement in the theoretical calculations leads to better agreement between simulated and experimental data     

Analog performance of an ultrafast sampled-time all-optical fiber XPM wavelength converter

Analog performance of an all-optical ultrafast wavelength converter is measured and reported for the first time. The wavelength-conversion process is based on nonlinear cross-phase modulation in an optical fiber combined with an optical filter to convert phase modulation to amplitude modulation. The spurious-free dynamic range (SFDR) of the converter is measured to be 82 dB/spl middot/Hz/sup 2/3/. We define a new metric called the SFDR power penalty, which measures the degradation in SFDR relative to baseline the back-to-back analog optical link. The SFDR power penalty was measured to be 5 dB/spl middot/Hz/sup 2/3/ and is shown to be a function of the input optical power. This metric is used to characterize the linear region of the optical wavelength converter.     

Performance analysis of the silicon waveguide-based wavelength converter

The conversion efficiency and noise figure (NF) of the silicon-on-insulator (SOI) waveguide-based wavelength converter are investigated with the coupled equations. The effects of the pump power, the nonlinear absorption and the waveguide length on the conversion efficiency and noise figure are discussed. The conversion efficiency decreases with the increasing pump power and the noise figure is degraded due to the two-photon absorption (TPA) and the TPA-induced free-carrier absorption (FCA) at the higher pump power. With the increasing of the free carrier lifetime, the conversion efficiency will decrease and the noise figure will increase accordingly. The optimal waveguide length depends on the pump power and the free carrier lifetime. In practical applications, the high conversion efficiency and low noise figure can be achieved by choosing suitable parameters of the silicon waveguide.     

基于量子点光放大器波长转换的啁啾特性研究

信号光的啁啾特性在很大程度上会影响量子点半导体光放大器(QD-SOA)的性能,引起传输信号的走离效应,使误比特率增高。为了改善这一特性,对QD-SOA全光波长转换器的啁啾特性进行了系统分析,基于QD-SOA的交叉增益调制效应的全光波长转换原理,采用牛顿法和4阶龙格-库塔法求解速率方程和光场传输方程,计算了注入电流、抽运光脉宽和抽运光消光比变化时QD-SOA全光波长转换器输出变换光的啁啾值。结果表明,增大抽运光脉宽、减小注入电流和抽运光消光比均可减小变换光的啁啾值,通过优化这些参量可以减小啁啾的影响,但在设计QD-SOA全光波长转换器时,要考虑抽运光消光比和变换光啁啾之间的均衡。     

Routing and wavelength assignment vs. wavelength converter placement in all-optical networks

Blocking has been the key performance index in the design of an all-optical network. Existing research demonstrates that an effective routing and wavelength assignment strategy and a proper wavelength converter placement algorithm are the two primary vehicles for improving the blocking performance. However, these two issues have largely been investigated separately in that the existing RWA algorithms have seldom considered the presence of wavelength conversion, while the wavelength converter placement algorithms have largely assumed that a static routing and random wavelength assignment algorithm is employed. The main objective of this article is to present some strong evidence that these two issues need to be considered jointly, and call for the reexamination of both RWA and wavelength converter placement.     

XGM波长变换器网络的路由波长分配算法研究

交叉增益调制(XGM,Cross-Gain Modulation),用于波长变换技术,可较简单地制成全光波长变换器。该文先用一个简单的近似模型分析了XGM波长变换器对路径阻塞率的影响,进而根据其本身固有的特点,设计了3种适合于XGM波长变换器网络的路由波长分配算法。通过在美国科学基金会骨干网络(NSFNET,National Science Foundation backbone network),和网孔型(Mesh-torus)网络中的仿真,从网络的阻塞率和公平性两个方面研究XGM波长变换器对网络性能的影响,同时比较了3种算法的性能。仿真结果表明,XGM波长变换器较无波长变换,可以在网络的阻塞率和公平性两个方面都得到较大的改善;3种算法中,FF/lowest算法在改善网络的阻塞率和公平性两个方面都是最优的。     

A novel high-speed and wavelength insensitive Y-branch modulatorwith reduced and controllable chirp

We propose and demonstrate a novel high-speed and wavelength insensitive Y-branch modulator in InGaAsP multiple-quantum-wells that exhibits negligible chirp and is also suitable for achieving controllable chirp. We raise the refractive index on one arm via applied bias and use the unbiased arm as a modulator. As the light switches to the biased arm, the modulated light in the unbiased arm experiences little phase change and therefore exhibits negligible chirp. Tunable chirp may be achieved using a push-pull bias configuration. We demonstrate that our modulator chirp is ~10 times lower than that of typical electroabsorption modulators     

Fabrication of chirped fiber grating with adjustable chirp andfixed central wavelength

We theoretically analyze and experimentally demonstrate a simple method for adjusting the chirp of chirped fiber gratings by temperature, while the central wavelength is temperature insensitive. Chirped fiber grating with tapered cross-section area is mounted under tension in a negative thermal-expansion coefficients material. The central wavelength is determined by the tension, and almost does not vary with temperature after packaging. The chirp can be adjusted by temperature. The grating in the package exhibits a linear variation in chirp of -0.00051 nm/cm/°C, and the temperature coefficient of central wavelength is -0.0018 nm/°C     

Matched chirp modulation: detection and performance in dispersivecommunication channels

Matched chirp modulation (MCM) is an improved version of chirp modulation (CM) in which the frequency sweep rate is matched to the dispersion parameters of the communication channel. It is an attractive constant-envelope digital modulation technique for adaptive transmission over dispersive communication channels. The performance of the optimum noncoherent (NC) and partially coherent (PC) receivers for MCM is analyzed and evaluated. In particular, the optimum value of the time-bandwidth product is evaluated, and the probability of error is calculated for the optimum NC and PC receivers     

Frequency and intensity modulation characteristics of GaAs lasersin an external cavity

Frequency and intensity modulation characteristics were measured for external cavity GaAs diode lasers as a function of modulation frequency. The data, displayed as a chirp-to-power ratio (CPR), showed at low modulation frequencies a flat response and a 0° or 180° relative phase, depending on laser structure. A model incorporating a carrier-density-dependent imaginary part of the differential gain (Henry alpha factor) is developed to explain the data. The model yields simple scaling of the CPR with injection current and photon lifetime. The agreement between the model and data including scaling is excellent. These results provide strong evidence for transverse spatial hole burning in these lasers     

Experimental investigation of the cascadability of a cross-gainmodulation wavelength converter

The cascading characteristics of a wavelength converter based on cross-gain modulation (XGM) are studied experimentally using a recirculating loop at 10 Gb/s. The maximum cascaded number of the wavelength converter converting the signal to the same wavelength is improved from five to eight by adding a fiber grating-based optical add-drop multiplexer after the semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) to enhance the high-frequency response of the wavelength converter. However, the low-frequency degradation of the signal together with amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) noise and jitter accumulation finally limits the wavelength converter to be cascaded for more times