Comparison of interferometric all-optical switches for demultiplexing applications in high-speed OTDM systems

Author

Schubert, Colja ; Berger, Jörn ; Diez, Stefan ; Ehrke, Hans Jürgen ; Ludwig, Reinhold ; Feiste, Uwe ; Schmidt, Carsten ; Weber, Hans G. ; Toptchiyski, Gueorgui ; Randel, Sebastian ; Petermann, Klaus

Author_Institution

Heinrich-Hertz-Inst. fur Nachrichtentech. Berlin GmbH, Germany

Volume

20

Issue

4

fYear

2002

fDate

4/1/2002 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

618

Lastpage

624

Abstract

We have investigated three interferometric all-optical switches based on cross-phase modulation (XPM) in semiconductor optical amplifiers (SOAs), the semiconductor laser amplifier in a loop mirror (SLALOM) switch, the Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) switch, and the ultrafast nonlinear interferometer (UNI) switch. Switching windows with different widths are measured under similar conditions for all three switching configurations. We introduce the integrated contrast ratio (ICR) as a measure to evaluate the performance of a switch from switching windows. Using the ICR, the switches are compared and their application is discussed as demultiplexer in optical time division multiplexing (OTDM) systems for data rates of 40, 80, and 160 Gb/s

Keywords

Mach-Zehnder interferometers; demultiplexing; high-speed optical techniques; mirrors; optical modulation; optical switches; semiconductor optical amplifiers; time division multiplexing; 160 Gbit/s; 40 Gbit/s; 80 Gbit/s; OTDM; SLALOM switch; cross-phase modulation; data rates; demultiplexer; demultiplexing applications; high-speed OTDM systems; integrated contrast ratio; interferometric all-optical switches; loop mirror; optical time division multiplexing; semiconductor laser amplifier; semiconductor optical amplifiers; switching windows; ultrafast nonlinear interferometer switch; Communication switching; Demultiplexing; Fiber nonlinear optics; High speed optical techniques; Optical interferometry; Optical receivers; Optical signal processing; Optical switches; Semiconductor optical amplifiers; Time division multiplexing;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Lightwave Technology, Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0733-8724

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/50.996581

Filename

996581