Multiple wavelength demultiplexing using an ultrafast nonlinear interferometer

Summary form only given. Optical rate conversion at user access nodes is a necessity in slotted optical time-division multiplexed (OTDM) networks. Various methods of rate conversion have been previously proposed. For instance, a receiver can optically buffer incoming slots and perform an all-optical rate-conversion down to electronic rates. A more practical approach to rate conversion is to consider the incoming slot as N bit-interleaved OTDM channels which can each be optically demultiplexed, detected, and buffered electronically. Multiple channel demultiplexing has been previously demonstrated in a nonlinear optical loop mirror and using four-wave mixing in fiber and a semiconductor optical amplifier. Here, we use the ultrafast nonlinear interferometer (UNI) (Patel et al, Opt. Lett, vol. 21, no. 18, p. 1466, 1996) to demonstrate multiple wavelength all-optical demultiplexing.