Title :
Recent progress in polarization bistable VCSELs and their applications for all-optical signal processing
Author :
Kawaguchi, Hitoshi ; Katayama, Takeo
Author_Institution :
Nara Inst. of Sci. & Technol., Nara, Japan
Abstract :
We summarize recent results of research on polarization bistable vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) and their applications for all-optical signal processing. 980-nm polarization bistable VCSELs with an oxide confinement structure were fabricated for low power consumption operation. The threshold current of the VCSEL was reduced to 0.22 mA and all-optical flip-flop operation was demonstrated at a record low bias current of 0.85 mA. We proposed an optical header processing system using a 1.55-μm polarization bistable VCSEL as an all-optical AND gate and a holding element. The payloads of 40-Gb/s NRZ format were send to designated ports depending on the state of a selected bit in the 4-bit header with a 500-Mb/s RZ format. In these operations, the input optical power for the VCSEL was much smaller than the output power. Therefore, the polarization bistable VCSEL is a promising candidate as an all-optical bistable device to realize an all-optical packet router.
Keywords :
flip-flops; laser cavity resonators; light polarisation; logic gates; optical bistability; optical communication equipment; optical fabrication; optical information processing; optical logic; surface emitting lasers; telecommunication network routing; 4-bit header; NRZ format; RZ format; all-optical AND gate; all-optical flip-flop operation; all-optical packet router; all-optical signal processing; bias current; bit rate 40 Gbit/s; bit rate 500 Mbit/s; current 0.22 mA; current 0.85 mA; holding element; input optical power; low power consumption operation; optical header processing system; oxide confinement structure; polarization bistable VCSEL; threshold current; vertical cavity surface emitting lasers; wavelength 980 nm; Optical bistability; Optical packet switching; Optical polarization; Optical pulses; Optical switches; Payloads; Vertical cavity surface emitting lasers;
Conference_Titel :
Advanced Optoelectronics and Lasers (CAOL), 2013 International Conference on
Conference_Location :
Sudak
Print_ISBN :
978-1-4799-0016-9
DOI :
10.1109/CAOL.2013.6657514