All-optical regeneration of phase modulated signal using a vertical cavity semiconductor saturable absorber

The nonlinear phase response of a vertical cavity semiconductor saturable absorber (VCSSA) has been studied theoretically incorporating both the nonlinear change in refractive index and the optically induced temperature rise in the micro-cavity. The simulation result shows that both negative and positive phase-shift can be obtained for different input powers of the signal beam, when the VCSSA is operated in reflection mode. This feature of the device can be utilized for compensating fiber nonlinearity and regeneration of phase-modulated optical signal.