Abstract
All-optical wavelength conversion of a complex (amplitude and phase) optical signal is proposed based on an all-optical implementation of time-domain holography. The temporal holograms are generated through a cross-phase modulation (XPM) process in a highly-nonlinear optical fiber, avoiding the necessity of accomplish the phase matching condition between the involved pump and probe signals, and reducing the power requirements compared to those of the traditional wavelength conversion implementations using four wave mixing (FWM). The proposed scheme also achieves symmetric conversion efficiency for up- and down-conversion. As a proof-of-concept, wavelength conversion of a train of 10 GHz chirped Gaussian-like pulses and their conjugated is experimentally demonstrated.
Highlights
Wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) systems have allowed a rapid increase in the spectral efficiency of optical networks in the last decades, through the multiplexing of multiple optical channels into a single optical fiber by using different wavelengths [1]
four-wave mixing (FWM)-based schemes present several drawbacks that limit their practical application, which include (i) the need to satisfy a stringent phase-matching condition, which either limits the wavelength conversion tunability or requires using dispersion-engineered media [3,6,13]; (ii) the need to use very high power for the involved signals and (iii) the fact that the wavelength converted signal is phase conjugated in time with respect to the original one when using the higher efficiency configurations, e.g. one [3,4,5,6] or two [7,8] continuous wave (CW) pumps
We observe that the conversion efficiency for both down-conversion and upconversion is very similar; this is in sharp contrast to the expected behavior of parametric effects such a FWM, where the down-conversion process is more efficient than the upconversion due to increased phase mismatch [5]. This suggests that the induced FWM process should be notably weaker than the XPM at the output frequencies, which is consistent with the significant low power of two of the three input signals involved in the mixing process
Summary
Wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) systems have allowed a rapid increase in the spectral efficiency of optical networks in the last decades, through the multiplexing of multiple optical channels into a single optical fiber by using different wavelengths [1]. XPM is, in general, easier to excite than FWM since it is not conditioned to a phase matching between the probe and the pump In these schemes, wavelength conversion is achieved from the intensity modulation of a probe CW light with a high power pump signal (the information signal) through a stage of XPM into an interferometric configuration, e.g., such as a Sagnac interferometer [9,10]; or through the sideband filtering of the output [11,12]. Wavelength conversion is achieved from the intensity modulation of a probe CW light with a high power pump signal (the information signal) through a stage of XPM into an interferometric configuration, e.g., such as a Sagnac interferometer [9,10]; or through the sideband filtering of the output [11,12] These configurations are limited to wavelength conversion of amplitude-only data signals. We achieve down and up conversion of a train of chirped Gaussian-like pulses with a similar efficiency (~−20 dB [3,4,5,6,7,8]) but using much lower power levels than previous FWM-based configurations (e.g., ~0.4 dBm and ~3 dBm signal and probe powers, respectively)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
