Fabrication and Comprehensive Modeling of Ion-Exchanged Bragg Opitcal Add-Drop Multiplexers

Optical add–drop multiplexers (OADMs) based on asymmetric Y branches and tilted gratings offer excellent-performance in wavelength-division multiplexed systems. To simplify waveguide fabrication, ion-exchange techniques appear to be an important option in photosensitive glasses. Optimum OADM performance depends on how accurately the waveguide fabrication process and tilted Bragg grating operation are understood and modeled. Results from fabrication and comprehensive modeling are compared for ion-exchange processes that use different angles of the tilted grating. The transmission and reflection spectra for the fabricated and simulated OADMs show excellent agreement. The OADM’s performance is evaluated in terms of the measured characteristics of the Y branches and tilted gratings

Cascaded wavelength conversions using four-wave mixing in semiconductor optical amplifiers

Wavelength conversion in wavelength-division multiplexed (WDM) communication systems would provide significant network performance improvement. Optoelectronic, cross-gain saturation, and cross phase saturation wavelength converters are candidate technologies that have been well characterized, however, they are not “transparent” to either bit-rate or modulation format. Complete transparency is offered only by ultrafast wave mixing techniques-in the present case four-wave mixing (FWM) in semiconductor optical amplifiers (SOAs)

Polarization-independent wavelength conversion at 2.5 Gb/s by dual-pump four-wave mixing in a strained semiconductor optical amplifier

We give a general expression for the polarization dependence of the four-wave mixing (FWM) efficiency in the dual-pump configuration. This expression, along with some general properties of the FWM susceptibility tensor, is used to propose a simple scheme to generate a nearly (1.5-dB variation) polarization independent FWM converted signal. The viability of this scheme is verified in a wavelength conversion experiment at 2.5 Gb/s

Cross talk penalty in two-channel wavelength conversion by four-wave mixing in a strained semiconductor optical amplifier

A crucial function in wavelength-division multiplexed (WDM) all-optical networks is a wavelength converter. This function enhances wavelength routing options and improves network reconfigurability. Here we present a systematic study of the cross talk penalty as a function of the pump-to-signal power ratio for two 2.5-Gbit/s ASK channels separated by 1.5 nm

Wavelength conversion for WDM communication systems using four-wavemixing in semiconductor optical amplifiers

Four-wave mixing (FWM) in semiconductor optical amplifiers is an attractive mechanism for wavelength conversion in wavelength-division multiplexed (WDM) systems since it provides modulation format and bit rate transparency over wide tuning ranges. A series of systems experiments evaluating several aspects of the performance of these devices at bit rates of 2.5 and 10 Gb/s are presented. Included are single-channel conversion over 18 nm of shift at 10 Gb/s, multichannel conversion, and cascaded conversions. In addition time resolved spectral analysis of wavelength conversion is presented

Wavelength conversion by four-wave mixing in semiconductor optical amplifiers

Time-resolved spectral analysis is performed on 10 Gb/s signals wavelength converted by four-wave mixing (FWM) in semiconductor optical amplifiers. A pattern-dependent chirp resulting from parasitic gain modulation by the signal is measured and characterized as a function of the converter's pump-to-probe ratio. This chirp is found to be insignificant for pump-to-probe ratios exceeding 9 dB

Wavelength conversion up to 18 nm at 10 Gb/s by four-wave mixing in a semiconductor optical amplifier

We characterize the conversion bandwidth of a four-wave mixing semiconductor optical amplifier wavelength converter. Conversion of 10-Gb/s signals with bit-error-rate (BER) performance of <10^-9 is demonstrated for wavelength down-shifts of up to 18 nm and upshifts of up to 10 nm

Buried Ion-Exchanged Glass Wavelengths: Burial-Depth Dependence on Waveguide Width

A detailed theoretical and experimental study of the depth dependence of buried ion-exchanged waveguides on waveguide width is reported. Modeling, which includes the effect of nonhomogeneous time-dependent electric field distribution, agrees well with our experiments showing that burial depth increases linearly with waveguide width. These results may be used in the proper design of integrated optical circuits that need waveguides of different widths at different sections, such as arrayed waveguide gratings

Cascaded wavelength conversion by four-wave mixing in a strained semiconductor optical amplifier at 10 Gb/s

We demonstrate for the first time cascaded wavelength conversion by four-wave mixing in a semiconductor optical amplifier. Bit-error-rate performance of <10^-9 at 10 Gb/s is achieved for two conversions of up to 9 nm down and up in wavelength. For two wavelength conversions of 5 nm down and up, a power penalty of 1.3 dB is measured. A system of two wavelength converters spanning 40 km of single-mode fiber is also demonstrated

Time-resolved Spectral Analysis Of Phase Conjugation By Four-wave Mixing In Semiconductor Optical Amplifiers

Optical phase conjugation provides a mechanism for achieving dispersion compensation in optical fibers. This has been demonstrated by four-wave mixing (FWM) in both fiber and semiconductor optical amplifiers (SOAs). Imperfect phase conjugation will prevent exact reconstruction of a dispersed data stream. Here we use time-resolved spectral analysis (TRSA) to evaluate the performance of FWM in SOAs for phase conjugation