A novel optical pulse width management device

Summary form only given. Selection of a particular data format depends on specific parameters in transmission links or network systems. For a specific overall dispersion, launch power, wavelength spacing and bit rate, etc., an optimal pulse width or data format exists. So, an optical pulse width management device (OPWMD) can be a powerful tool to balance design trade-offs. We introduce a novel optical pulse width management device (OPWMD) to convert pulse width in both directions, i.e., converting NRZ data into RZ format or stretching RZ pulses into 40 times broader RZ pulses, even into NRZ format at bit rate greater than 20 Gbit/s. The OPWDM is a fiber optic Sagnac loop with a semiconductor optical amplifier.