Nonlinear gain in vertical-cavity semiconductor optical amplifiers

Author

Sánchez, Michael ; Wen, Pengyue ; Gross, Matthias ; Esener, Sadik

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr. & Comput. Eng., Univ. of California, La Jolla, CA, USA

Volume

15

Issue

4

fYear

2003

fDate

4/1/2003 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

507

Lastpage

509

Abstract

We report on the wavelength-dependent nonlinear-gain properties of a vertical-cavity semiconductor optical amplifier. A step-like output versus input transfer curve and bistability are found on the long wavelength side of the resonant peak. The characteristics are caused by a dispersive nonlinearity arising from gain saturation in the device. The nonlinear transfer of the amplifier could be used for logic regeneration and all-optical logic operations, while the optical injection power required to switch the device is an order of magnitude lower than previously reported with edge-emitting devices.

Keywords

nonlinear optics; optical bistability; optical logic; optical saturation; optical switches; semiconductor optical amplifiers; surface emitting lasers; all-optical logic operations; bistability; dispersive nonlinearity; edge-emitting devices; gain saturation; input transfer curve; logic regeneration; long wavelength side; optical injection power; resonant peak; step-like output; vertical-cavity semiconductor optical amplifiers; wavelength-dependent nonlinear-gain properties; Dispersion; Logic devices; Nonlinear optical devices; Nonlinear optics; Operational amplifiers; Optical amplifiers; Repeaters; Resonance; Semiconductor optical amplifiers; Stimulated emission;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Photonics Technology Letters, IEEE

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1041-1135

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/LPT.2003.809310

Filename

1190185