Monolithically integrated nonlinear interferometers for all-optical switching
- Heinrich-Hertz-Inst. fuer Nachrichtentechnik Berlin GmbH (Germany)
All-optical switching devices are expected to play an important role in future optical communication networks. For example, nonlinear interferometer (NLI) arrangements consisting of one or two semiconductor laser amplifiers (SLA) are very attractive. Here, the cross-phase modulation due to the gain-saturation nonlinearity of SLAs could be used for switching in time, space, and wavelength domains. The first of such devices was configured as a nonlinear Sagnac interferometer (NSI) by using an SLA in a fiber loop mirror (SLALOM) for time domain switching. So far, these devices have been assembled using discrete SLA components. Other arrangements like Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) with SLAs provide additional flexibility but require their realization as integrated devices for stable operation. In this paper the authors report on the development of monolithically integrated NLIs for all-optical signal processing in high bit-rate optical time division multiplexing systems. Both NSI and MZI configurations are considered.
- OSTI ID:
- 536221
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-960498--; ISBN 0-7803-3283-0
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Nanosecond photonic switch architectures demonstrated in an all-digital monolithic platform
Plasmonic optical switches based on Mach-Zender interferometer