Time-division optical power divider using electrooptic light switches

A time-division optical power divider (TDPD), which chops an analog optical signal with an electrooptic light switches to produce pulsed optical signals and distributes them to output ports, is proposed. It is shown theoretically and experimentally that the TDPD is capable of dividing a signal with less deterioration of a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) compared with a conventional optical divider, if the original signal is recovered through a sample/hold circuit and low-pass filters. It is also demonstrated that the SNR degradation due to the signal distribution is remarkably improved with an increase of output ports by using the TDPD system.