Performance investigation of semiconductor optical amplifier-based ultrafast nonlinear interferometer in nontrivial switching mode

Abstract

The feasibility of operating the semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA)–based ultrafast nonlinear interferometer (UNI) in nontrivial switching mode is methodically investigated and demonstrated. For this purpose, a comprehensive model that simulates the dynamical behavior of an SOA subject to an ultra-high-speed pseudorandom binary sequence is appropriately adapted to the case of the specific configuration. By undertaking a detailed theoretical treatment, the impact of the most important SOA parameters on the fully loaded Q-factor is thoroughly analyzed and assessed, enabling us to extract useful design rules for their proper selection so as to ensure enhanced error-free performance at the desired output port of the considered interferometric arrangement. The outcome of this effort may assist the study and implementation of all-optical circuits and subsystems of nontrivial functionality, in particular with feedback, in which the UNI employing a SOA as the nonlinear element is the core logical module.