Eight-to-one demultiplexing of 100-Gbit/s TDM data using LiNbO/sub 3/ Sagnac interferometer modulators

Summary form only given. Due to the speed limitations of electronic circuitry, future time-division multiplexed (TDM) optical communications networks operating at data rates of the order of 100 Gbit/s will require optical demultiplexing techniques. Toward this end, a variety of all-optical demultiplexing schemes, based on third-order nonlinearities in fiber or on resonant nonlinearities in semiconductors, have been proposed and demonstrated. These require a local optical clock to drive the demultiplexing; furthermore, many (those based on nonlinearities in fiber) suffer from a long latency between receipt and decoding of the data. In this paper we demonstrate high-fidelity 100/spl rarr/12.5 Gbit/s demultiplexing using Sagnac interferometer-based lithium niobate modulators driven by readily available, narrow-band microwave amplifiers.