Numerical analysis of the performance of a Mach–Zehnder interferometer based on acousto-optic filter for signal regeneration

Abstract

In this work we performed a numerical analysis of the performance of an all-optical 3R regenerator based on four wave mixing through a communication system Mach–Zehnder interferometer (MZI) with acousto-optic filter (AOF) and photonic crystal fiber. The frequency difference between the input signal and the pump was used as a figure of merit for comparing minimum bit-error-rate (min. BER), maximum quality factor (max. Q-factor) and optical spectrum results. In this case the non-linear Schrodinger equation was solved by the split step Fourier method. Simulation and performance analysis of the 3R-MZI-AOF regenerator were performed using OptiSystem software for systems with different frequency spacings. Therefore, with the 3R regeneration proposed here, a significant improvement in system performance was achieved, where max. Q-factor was equal to 9 and min. BER was equal to 1 × 10−19 for the 600 GHz frequency spacing and 10 Gb/s transmission rate.