Reduction of semiconductor optical amplifier switching times by preimpulse step-injected current technique

A practical way to implement a technique for the reduction of the semiconductor optical amplifier electrooptic switching time is presented. The technique, called PISIC (preimpulse step-injected current), was tested and achieved a reduction of the SOA switching times from almost 2 ns (simple-step current response) to little more than 200 ps (step with prepulse response). Forecasts obtained through simulations, using optimized values of current step and prepulse, showed even a faster optical switch response, with switching time reduction to values around 10 ps.