Novel scheme to increase the operation speed of a SOA for all-optical wavelength conversion

Abstract

All-optical wavelength converters (AOWCs) are considered to be important components in future wavelength-division-multiplexed (WDM) networks. Cross gain modulation schemes in semiconductor optical amplifiers (SOA) are promising candidates for an all-optical wavelength conversion application due to the simple implementation and effective conversion. However, the slow gain recovery time of SOA limits the maximum operation speed and causes unwanted pattern effects. This paper provides a novel scheme for wavelength conversion enables ultra-fast conversion speed. On the one hand, we utilize a three-wavelength-device (TWD) to reduce the recovery time of the SOA. On the other hand, we use an optical band pass filter (OBF) which central wavelength is blue shifted with respect to the central wavelength of the probe beam to increase the frequency response. The combination of a reduction of the SOA recovery time and an increase of the frequency response enables conversion speed potentially to achieve 160 Gb/s or even faster.