Tunable 12×10 GHz mode-locked semiconductor fiber laser incorporating a Mach-Zehnder interferometer filter

A stable multiwavelength mode-locked semiconductor fiber ring laser incorporating a fiber Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) filter was proposed and experimentally demonstrated. A semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) serves as an optically controlled mode-locking element due to gain exhaustion caused by external injected optical pulses. Another SOA severs as a constant-gain medium. A fiber MZI filter with a temperature control is incorporated into the fiber ring cavity to acquire a stable and tunable multiwavelength oscillation. Twelve wavelengths are synchronously mode-locked at 10 GHz, pulse width of mode-locked pulse are about 30 ps. Proposed multiwavelength mode-locked semiconductor fiber ring laser has some distinct advantages, such as simple and compact structure, easy integration, convenient tuning, good stability, potential high repetition rate operating, which has potential application in the future WDM communication system.     

SOA-based actively mode-locked fiber ring laser by forward injecting an external pulse train

An actively mode-locked fiber ring laser based on cross-gain modulation (XGM) in a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) is demonstrated to operate stably with a simple configuration. By forward injecting an easily-generated external pulse train, the mode-locked fiber laser can generate an optical-pulse sequence with pulsewidth about 6 ps and average output power about 7.9 mW. The output pulses show an ultra-low RMS jitter about 70.7 fs measured by a RF spectrum analyzer. The use of the proposed forward-injection configuration can realize the repetition-rate tunability from 1 to 15 GHz for the generated optical-pulse sequences. By employing a wavelength-tunable optical band-pass filter in the laser cavity, the operation wavelength of the designed SOA-based actively mode-locked fiber laser can be tuned continuously in a wide span between 1528 and 1565 nm. The parameters of external-injection optical pulses are studied experimentally to optimize the mode-locked fiber laser.     

Transmission performance of 20 × 10 Gb/s WDM signals using cascaded optimized SOAs with OOK and DPSK modulation formats

We investigated 20 channels at 10 Gb/s wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) transmission over 1190 km single mode fiber and dispersion compensating fiber using cascaded inline semiconductor optical amplifier at a span of 70 km for RZ-DPSK (return zero differential phase-shift keying) modulation format by using same channel spacing, i.e. 100 GHz. We show for RZ-OOK (return zero on-off keying) format a transmission distance of up to 1050 km with Q factor more than 15 dB, without any power drops. We developed the SOA model for inline amplifier having minimum cross-talks and ASE (amplified spontaneous emission) noise power with sufficient gain. At optimal bias current of 400 mA, a high constant gain of 36.5 dB is obtained up to a saturation power of 21.36 mW. So reduction of cross-talk and distortion is possible by decreasing the bias current at appropriate amplification factor.The DPSK modulation format has less cross-talk as compared to OOK format for nonlinearities and saturation case. The impact of optical power received and Q factor at different distance for both RZ-OOK and RZ-DPSK modulation format has been illustrated. We have shown the optical spectrum and clear Eye diagram at the transmission distance of 1190 km in RZ-DPSK system and 1050 km in RZ-OOK systems.The bit error rate (BER) for all channels observed is less than 10⁻¹⁰ up to gain saturation for both DPSK and OOK systems. Finally, we investigated that the transmission distance decreases with a decrease in channel spacing of up to 20 GHz.     

A novel actively and passively mode-locked semiconductor optical amplifier fiber ring laser

A novel actively and passively mode-locked semiconductor optical amplifier fiber ring laser was presented, where semiconductor optical amplifier provided cavity gain and introduced nonlinear polarization rotation, whereas, intensity modulator not only acted as modulator but also polarizer. The pulses with duration below 3 ps (FWHM) and peak power about 16 mW at a repetition rate of 10 GHz can be obtained in our system and the system stability may be enhanced. To investigate system parameters effects on mode-locked pulses, a theoretical model was developed.     

Eleven-wavelength switchable fiber ring laser with a dispersion compensation fiber and a delayed interferometer

We demonstrate a fiber ring laser with a dispersion compensation fiber (DCF) and a delayed interferometer (DI) with temperature control, which is able to switch eleven wavelengths one by one. In ring cavity, DCF supplies different effective cavity lengths for different wavelengths, DI generates a wavelength comb corresponding to the ITU grid, a flat-gain erbium-doped fiber amplifier (EDFA) provides uniform gain for each lasting wavelength, and a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) not only acts as active modulator, but also alleviates homogeneous broadening effect of EDFA. Stable pulse trains with a pulsewidth about 40 ps at 10 GHz have been obtained by injecting external optical control signals into the laser. Wavelength switching process among eleven wavelengths is achieved by merely tuning an intracavity optical delay line.     

Wavelength-spacing continuously tunable multi-wavelength SOA-fiber ring laser based on Mach–Zehnder interferometer

A Mach–Zehnder interferometer (MZI) which is used as a wavelength-spacing tunable comb filter in a fiber ring laser is built by employing an optical variable delay line (OVDL). Stable multi-wavelength semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA)-fiber ring laser based on an SOA and the MZI comb filter is achieved. Wavelength spacing can be continuously tuned by adjusting the OVDL and, as an example, multi-wavelength lasing with the wavelength spacing of 0.4, 0.8, or 1.6 nm is demonstrated. The output of the proposed multi-wavelength SOA-fiber ring laser is quite stable at room temperature and the output spectrum can be adjusted by controlling the bias current of the SOA.     

Enhanced performance for 10 Gb/s long reach RSOA based WDM-PON by using power pre-emphasized OFDM signal

An extended reach 10 Gb/s wavelength division multiplexing passive optical networks (WDM-PONs) system based on reflective semiconductor optical amplifier (RSOA) is proposed by using power pre-emphasized orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) signal. Experimental results show that the proposed technique can effectively enhance the system performance against the limited bandwidth and chirp induced fading effect from direct modulation of RSOA. The receiver sensitivity is improved by 5 dB at the limit of BER for forward error correction (FEC) code over the 60 km and 85 km fiber transmission without any dispersion compensation module.     

Multiwavelength fiber laser using S-band erbium-doped fiber amplifier and semiconductor optical amplifier

A multiwavelength fiber ring laser that is based on an S-band erbium-doped fiber amplifier (EDFA) and a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) is developed. An optical switch is used to switch the multiwavelength fiber laser between S-band and L-band. This fiber laser can stably lase seven wavelengths in the S-band or 28 wavelengths in the L-band. Additionally, the lasing wavelengths with a signal-to-noise ratio of over 33 dB and a wavelength spacing of 100 GHz are demonstrated experimentally. The average powers of the lasing wavelength in the S-band and the L-band are −7.53 and −12.15 dBm, respectively.     

All-optical clock recovery of 20 Gbit/s NRZ-DPSK signals using polarization-maintaining fiber loop mirror filter and semiconductor optical amplifier fiber ring laser

All-optical clock recovery (CR) from 20 Gbit/s nonreturn-to-zero differential phase-shift-keying (NRZ-DPSK) signals are demonstrated experimentally by using a polarization-maintaining fiber loop mirror filter (PMF-LMF) and a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) fiber ring laser. Only by adjusting polarization controller (PC), NRZ-DPSK signals were conveniently and fast converted to pseudo return-to-zero (PRZ) signal via PMF-LMF. Then the PRZ signals are injected into the SOA fiber laser for CR. The recovered clock signals is with the extinction ratio (ER) of 10 dB and the root-mean-square (RMS) timing jitter of 750 fs in 2³¹ − 1 long pseudorandom binary sequence (PRBS) NRZ-DPSK signals measurement. Moreover, the broad wavelength tunability of recovered clock stemmed from the use of SOAs as modulator and the gain medium are shown too.     

Stable multiwavelength fiber ring laser with equalized power spectrum based on a semiconductor optical amplifier

We experimentally demonstrated a new structure of a multiwavelength semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) ring laser based on a fiber Sagnac loop filter that can generate up to 25 stable output lasing wavelengths at room temperature. By varying the length of a polarization-maintaining (PM) fiber within the Sagnac loop filter, the wavelength spacing between the output lasing wavelengths can be changed to a desired value. By tuning a polarization controller (PC) within the Sagnac loop filter, stable multiwavelength 1550-nm operation with up to 17 lasing lines within 3 dB power level variation and with a wavelength spacing of ∼0.8 nm was achieved. The optical signal-to-noise ratios (OSNRs) of all the lasing wavelengths are greater than 40 dB.     

Four-wave mixing in dual wavelength fiber laser utilizing SOA for wavelength conversion

In this paper, a novel configuration of a wavelength converter is set forth by utilizing a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) as a nonlinear gain medium to generate a four-wave mixing (FWM) effect by using a dual wavelength bi-erbium-doped fiber laser that uses an Arrayed Waveguide Grating (AWG) together with two optical channel selector (OSC) as selective elements to function as a dual wavelength switchable pump power. The four-wave mixing (FWM) is produced with a wavelength detuning of 7 nm from the pump and signal which used is as the converted signal at wavelength 1532.8 nm or 1534.5 nm for transferring data from the input signal at wavelength 1547.0 nm. Thus, even though the conversion efficiency is as low as −43 dB, it is still possible for applications as a wavelength converter.     

All-optical microwave notch filter with flat passband based on semiconductor optical amplifier

An all-optical filter structure for interference mitigation of microwave signals is proposed and demonstrated. The structure is based on a recirculating delay line loop (RDLL) and a fiber Bragg grating. The RDLL is comprised of a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) followed by a tunable narrowband optical filter and an optical variable delay line. Negative tap is generated using wavelength conversion based on the cross-gain modulation of amplified spontaneous emission spectrum of the SOA. A negative band-pass filter and a broadband all-pass filter are synthesized to achieve a narrow notch filter with flat passband which can excise interference with minimal impact on the wanted signal over a wide microwave range. Experimental results show the notch rejection ratio of 30 dB, good shape factor and tunability.     

40-GHz wavelength tunable mode-locked SOA-based fiber laser with 40-nm tuning range

A 40-GHz wavelength tunable mode-locked fiber ring laser based on cross-gain modulation in a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) is presented. Pulse trains with a pulse width of 10.5 ps at 40-GHz repetition frequency are obtained. The laser operates with almost 40-nm tuning range. The relationship between the key laser parameters and the output pulse characteristics is analyzed experimentally.     

Investigation of wavelength division multiplexing ring network topology to enhance the system capacity

In this paper, we have investigated the wavelength division multiplexed (WDM) system using ring network topology. This network is used to increase the capacity with eight optical add/drop multiplexers (OADMs) by using dispersion compensating fiber and semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) to achieve a distance up to 1600 km. It is observed that network shows the acceptable results at 15 Gbps data rate with 100 GHz channel spacing. The OADM nodes are also varied to investigate the network performance in the term of BER and Q-factor.     

A self-consistent model for a SOA-based fiber ring laser including the mode-locked pulse properties

In this paper, we present a self-consistent model of an optically mode-locked semiconductor fiber ring laser. The fiber laser uses a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) as the gain medium, while mode-locking is achieved by its gain modulation, via an external optical pulsed signal. We solved the model analytically developing a novel technique, where we have assumed double saturation of the SOA by both the mode-locked and the externally introduced pulsed signal. The study revealed the locus of the laser parameters to achieve mode-locking. In particular, it was found that SOA gain and energy of the externally introduced signal are two critical parameters that must simultaneously set properly for exact mode-locking. Another outcome of our analysis is that the study of the chirp parameter should be carried out keeping the nonlinear terms of the SOA gain. We have also investigated a slightly detuning regime of operation that revealed a fast change of the mode-locking process.     

40 Gb/s all-optical logic NOR and OR gates using a semiconductor optical amplifier: Experimental demonstration and theoretical analysis

We experimentally and theoretically demonstrate 40 Gb/s all-optical logic NOR and OR gates based on a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) and a blue shifted optical bandpass filter (OBF). Two kinds of data formats are discussed, namely return-to-zero (RZ) format and nonreturn-to-zero (NRZ) format. The logic NOR and OR functions of RZ format are realized at the OBF detuning of −0.22 nm and −0.44 nm, respectively. The logic NOR function of NRZ format is realized at the OBF detuning of −0.24 nm. The simulation is in good agreement with the experimental results when the linewidth enhancement factor is 5.5. The simulation also shows that the SOA with large linewidth enhancement factor is preferred to achieve NOR and OR functions with good performance. The input data signal is of good pulsewidth-tolerance for NOR function, whereas not for OR function. The high Q factor could be obtained at narrow pulses injection.     

All-optical NRZ-OOK-to-RZ-OOK format conversions with tunable duty cycles using nonlinear polarization rotation of a semiconductor optical amplifier

We experimentally demonstrate an all-optical 10 Gb/s format conversion from non-return-to-zero (NRZ) on-off-keying (OOK) to return-to-zero (RZ)-OOK with tunable duty cycle in the whole C-band using nonlinear polarization rotation (NPR) arising in an semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA). The experimental results show that, by tuning the polarizer at the SOA output, an RZ signal with tunable duty cycle from 33% to 66% could be obtained with an extinction ratio(ER) over 10 dB. In addition, we show that the NRZ-to-RZ conversion with duty cycle of 33-66% can be obtained with less than 1 dB power penalty at the bit error ratio (BER) of 10⁻⁹. The device can facilitate the cross-connection between optical transmission networks employing different modulation formats.     

A Novel Method for Wavelength Conversion with Dual-pump Four-wave Mixing in a Semiconductor Optical Amplifier

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A Novel All-optical Wavelength ConverterBased on Self-pump Four-wave Mixing

A novel scheme of all-optical wavelength converter(AOWC) based on dual pump four-wave mixing(DP-FWM) was demonstrated. To suppress the ASE noise of the semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA), one of the two pumps was generated interiorly from a loop laser constructed mainly by tunable optical filter and SOA. The theoretical model and some experimental results were presented.     

A Novel All-optical Wavelength Converter Based on Self-pump Four-wave Mixing

A novel scheme of all-optical wavelength converter(AOWC) based on dual pump four-wave mixing(DP-FWM) was demonstrated. To suppress the ASE noise of the semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA), one of the two pumps was generated interiorly from a loop laser constructed mainly by tunable optical filter and SOA. The theoretical model and some experimental results were presented.