Wavelength Conversion Techniques

standard NRZ format data.

In addition the operation of the device when both input signals are modulated will be discussed. Here the 1.3 jam signal acts as a gating signal which switches blocks of data at the 1.55|am wavelength. In this configuration the NLOA is operating as a fast time switch and reference to Chapter 3 should be made for comparisons.

In section 4.2 we shall review the possible methods of wavelength conversion in semiconductor devices and compare the benefits of saturable absorption techniques to four- wave-mixing (FWM) techniques. In section 4.3 new results will be presented for data conversion from 1.3 jam to the 1.55 |im wavelength range and within that section we shall investigate the effects of detuning around the FP modes, and altering the input signal powers. In section 4,4 we shall investigate how well the NLOA wavelength converter performs in a WDM wavelength routed system demonstrator. In section 4,5 we shall address the issue of in-band wavelength conversion, that is, conversion of data within the 1.55 jam wavelength window, and see how this type of conversion could be used to change the data format from RZ to NRZ. In section 4.6 we shall look at how the 1.3 jam - 1.55 jam configuration can be modified such that the 1.3 jam signal acts as a gating signal to time switch blocks of 1.55 jam data.

4.2 Wavelength Conversion Techniques.

In Chapter 1 we saw how the capacity of optical telecommunications networks may need to increase to the Tb/s range in the next century and that with such high capacity networks high network efficiency and reliability are very important. One method of achieving increased flexibility within a wavelength routed optical network is to incorporate wavelength switching within the network structure. There are two classes of wavelength switching; those where the switching is electrically driven and those where the conversion is optically driven. Wavelength switching (or conversion) using electrical modulation of split contact DFB or DBR lasers has been demonstrated over a few nm [4.1,4.2] with nm tuning ranges [4.1] and sub-ns switching times [4.2,4.3, 4.4]. Such regeneration techniques may be inconvenient for high bandwidth transparent systems since broadband high power electronic circuitry is required which can result

Ch 4 Wavelength Conversion Techniques

in interference problems. The high driving levels can result in high chirp, induced due to the large carrier density changes in the device, and may limit the application areas for such a technology. Although this regenerator technology is commercially available, unlike the all- optical techniques, we shall confine further discussion to optical wavelength switching techniques.

Optically activated wavelength conversion has also been demonstrated. Kawaguchi et al. converted a 500 MHz intensity modulated signal over 2.8 nm by optically pumping a multicontact DFB laser [4.5]. Inoue has demonstrated wavelength conversion with self­ wavelength selection for 120 Mbit/s (1010) frequency modulated data using a DFB laser [4.6]. Fujitsu [4.7] have recently reported wavelength conversion system results at 125 Mb/s where they operated a 4 contact DBR laser as a wavelength converter. The input data was converted over 8.8 nm and the bit-error-ratio (BER) measurements showed that receiver sensitivity penalties of < 1 dB could be obtained using this type of absorber saturation techniques. Kawaguchi demonstrated that by altering the distribution of the bias within the two-contact device the output DFB lasing wavelength could be tuned over ~ 2 Â [4.8] although only 20 MHz repetition rates were achieved. For all of these results the multi-contact conversion device operated as a laser, with the input data triggering lasing action by saturating an absorption region within the device. The output laser light from the DFB was at a different wavelength to that of the input trigger signal. Operated as lasers the devices behave as bistable elements and therefore need to be reset. Optical reset has been demonstrated and can even be at the same wavelength as the set signal [4.9]. Since the laser is being turned on by saturating the absorption the large caiTier density changes imply that the repetition rate is limited by the carrier recovery effects which, as seen in Chapter 3, are typically in the order of ~ ns. This suggests that the repetition rate capability for such devices may be limited to - Gb/s and the highest speed demonstrated so far is 1 GHz [4.2] although no system studies at this speed have been reported so far. In addition, these grating based devices have small gain bandwidths and thus conversion over large wavelength ranges may be difficult. One approach to combat this limitation is to use gain saturation, where the material gain at the DFB lasing wavelength is saturated by a second input

Ch 4 Wavelength Conversion Techniques

signal at a second wavelength which effectively turns off the lasing at the DFB wavelength. This type of effect was used in [4.10] and more recently used to convert data over a wavelength of > 10 nm [4.11]. Optically driven switching in a DFB has also been demonstrated where the input signal switched the laser between two bistable lasing states for very low input powers of < 1 }iW [4.12].

Fabry-Perot (FP) type devices with gain bandwidths of tens of nm's offer a potentially larger wavelength conversion range. Inoue has demonstrated optical wavelength conversion over 15.5 nm at 800 MBit/s using the dispersive nonlinearity in a single contact FP semiconductor optical amplifier [4.13]. As discussed earlier (Chapter 3) such dispersive techniques require tighter wavelength control than the absorptive effects. In his work Inoue did not discuss the achievable contrast ratio and did not investigate the error performance of the conversion technique, something that is essential if such devices are to be considered for system implementation. More recently Glance et al. have demonstrated wavelength conversion in a travelling wave semiconductor laser amplifier using gain saturation [4.14]. This work showed results at 2.5 Gb/s and demonstrated wavelengtli conversion (and data inversion) over a wide wavelength range but the powers required for this functionality were ~ 1 mW if contrast ratios of ~ 10 dB were required.

Other device structures such as the Y-laser have also been shown to exhibit wavelength switching characteristics [4.15] with lasing tuning range of - 30 nm. but the devices characteristics may be difficult to replicate and reproduce in these interferometric structures.

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Figure 4.1: Optical spectrum showing the presence o f FWM products when two signals at different wavelengths are injected into a semiconductor device.

Ch 4 Wavelength Conversion Techniques

Four-wave-mixing (FWM) in a near-travelling-wave amplifier is another technique that has been used to optically switch the wavelength of the data signal. FWM results from fast carrier induced nonlinear effects. The presence of two optical signals at different optical frequencies within a semiconductor device result in mixing. In general these two signals are referred to as the pump beam and the probe beam. In this discussion the pump beam is the beam onto which the data is to be converted and the probe beam is the input data signal. We shall refer to the probe beam as the signal, see Figure 4.1. A full theoretical analysis has been undertaken by many others [4.16,4.17, 4.18] and will therefore not be considered here. The FWM is basically due to the nonlinear interaction between the photon and carrier populations (see rate equations (2.13) to (2.15)) with a beat frequency, corresponding to the difference in the two optical frequencies, being produced in the carrier population within the device. Depending on the beat frequency the interaction of the signals can manifest itself as travelling or standing waves in the carrier distribution [4.16]. The oscillation in carrier density at the beat frequency produces sidebands, or FWM products, to the optical carriers which overlap with themselves, see Figure 4.1, and therefore the two input signals become phase locked and 'coherent'. The optical spectrum of this locked output now consists of four (or more) components, the two fundamental carriers and two (or more) mixing products. If an optical filter is used to select one of these FWM products then only when both pump and signal signals are present in the device will power be detected at the output of the filter. Thus if a data stream is injected at one wavelength and a cw signal at another such that the FWM product is aligned to the filter passband then the data will be transferred to the optical filter wavelength and can be detected at the filter output. Both co- and counter propagating pumping schemes have been demonstrated [4.17,4.17]. Since the mixing product is dependent on carrier density oscillations, FWM has a limited operational bandwidth and therefore a limited wavelength conversion range. In most devices this conversion range is a few GHz [4.18, 4.19, 4.20]. However there are many fast nonlinear processes that can be observed in semiconductor devices (such as spectral hole burning, intra-band nonlinear gain) and FWM using these broadband nonlinearities has been observed over many THz [4.21, 4.22, 4.23, 4.24].