High‐speed operation of optical exclusive OR circuit based on balanced detection and intensity modulation

Abstract

We report the evaluated results of an optical exclusive OR (XOR) circuit for high-speed binary signals, which operates based on balanced detection and intensity modulation. This circuit partly adopts simple electronics in order to achieve simple configuration and operation. Two input optical binary signals into a balanced photo detector produce an electrical signal for directly driving a modulator. The modulator modulates the lightwave from a laser diode and generates optical XOR output of the two input optical signals. After briefly explaining its configuration and operating principle, We demonstrate some experimental results to show its potential. We show its successful operation at 40 Gbit/s binary signals including bit error rate measurement.