An all-optical amplifier for terahertz AM signals: A proposal

We propose an all-optical amplifier for AM signals which, in principle, is an integrated Mach-Zehnder interferometer where both arms are pumped with light from the incoming signal, amplified in a semiconductor laser amplifier. Thus the pump is the time integrated phase and amplitude average of the signal. In one of the arms a part of the nonamplified signal is injected, which modulates the optical path length in that arm with the optical Kerr effect. After the final junction between the arms, the outgoing light is proved to carry a part of the amplitude of the pump and the modulation of the signal.