An InP Monolithically Integrated Unicast and Multicast Wavelength Converter

We experimentally demonstrate a novel Indium Phosphide monolithically integrated optical circuit for all-optical wavelength conversion. The circuit exploits two cascaded cross gain modulation (XGM) interactions in semiconductor optical amplifiers. In a first XGM stage, the input signal and a continuous wave light at the desired output wavelength generate a wavelength converted yet not ideal copy of the input signal, whereas, in the second XGM stage, the quality of the wavelength converted signal is significantly improved because of the cross gain compression effect. We report 10 Gb/s wavelength conversion performance for both the unicast (single output wavelength) and the multicast (multiple output wavelengths) conversion. Experimental results confirm the effectiveness of the present photonic integrated circuit in both cases, showing only a moderate bit error rate power penalty.