Enhanced performance of all-optical half-subtracter based on cross-gain modulation (XGM) in semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) by accelerating its gain recovery dynamics

Abstract

In this article, the acceleration attained in gain recovery dynamics of travelling-wave-type semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) at the expense of structural optimization is illustrated via numerical simulations. A pump–probe scheme has been utilized in order to study the outcomes of optimization of SOA operational and structural parameters on its effective gain recovery time ( $${\tau _\mathrm{e}}$$ ). A set of optimized SOA parameters are formulated from gain recovery dynamics studies after keeping practical implementation considerations in vision. Further, the impacts of altering SOA structural and operational parameters such as injection current (I), amplifier length (L), active region width (w), active region thickness (t) and optical confinement factor ( $${\varGamma } $$ ) on gain recovery time improvement achieved are further investigated on the performance of a cross-gain modulation (XGM) in SOA-based all-optical half-subtracter in terms of two designated performance metrics: quality factor (Q-factor) and extinction ratio (ER). It has been revealed that reduced gain recovery time-optimized SOAs-based all-optical half-subtracter arranged in a co-propagating manner exhibits improved Q-factor and ER (dB) performance at high bit rates of operation ( $$\le $$ 80 Gbps).