Polarization-Insensitive Monolithic 40-Gbps SOA–MZI Wavelength Converter With Narrow Active Waveguides

Author

Hatta, Tatsuo ; Miyahara, Toshiharu ; Miyazaki, Yasunori ; Takagi, Kazuhisa ; Matsumoto, Keisuke ; Aoyagi, Toshitaka ; Motoshima, Kuniaki ; Mishina, Ken ; Maruta, Akihiro ; Kitayama, Ken-ichi

Author_Institution

Inf. Technol. Res. & Dev. Center, Mitsubishi Electr. Corp., Hyogo

Volume

13

Issue

1

fYear

2007

Firstpage

32

Lastpage

39

Abstract

A polarization-insensitive monolithic 40-Gbps semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA)-Mach-Zehnder interferometer wavelength converter has been developed. Based on the photon-electron rate equation, we optimized the dimensions of the waveguide structure to maximize the field confinement in the active layer. An InGaAsP active layer with narrow SOA waveguide effectively enables polarization-insensitive high-speed wavelength conversion. High-precision wafer processing technique enabled the fabrication of submicrometer-wide active waveguides with low current leakage. Input waveguide arrays were fabricated at intervals of 25 mum and mounted in a module with two-lens aspherical lens optics. The 40-Gbps nonreturn-to-zero wavelength conversion experiment demonstrates a clear eye opening over full C-band operation

Keywords

III-V semiconductors; Mach-Zehnder interferometers; aspherical optics; gallium arsenide; gallium compounds; indium compounds; integrated optics; integrated optoelectronics; lenses; light polarisation; monolithic integrated circuits; optical arrays; optical communication equipment; optical fibre communication; optical waveguides; optical wavelength conversion; semiconductor optical amplifiers; 4 to 8 GHz; 40 Gbit/s; C-band operation; InGaAsP; InGaAsP active layer; Mach-Zehnder interferometer; SOA-MZI wavelength converter; aspherical lens optics; current leakage; eye opening; field confinement; high-precision wafer processing; high-speed wavelength conversion; input waveguide arrays; monolithic wavelength converter; narrow active waveguides; nonreturn-to-zero wavelength conversion; photon-electron rate equation; polarization insensitive wavelength converter; semiconductor optical amplifier; submicrometer-wide active waveguides; two-lens optics; waveguide structure; Equations; Lenses; Optical arrays; Optical device fabrication; Optical interferometry; Optical polarization; Optical waveguides; Optical wavelength conversion; Semiconductor optical amplifiers; Semiconductor waveguides; All-optical wavelength conversion; Mach–Zehnder interferometer (MZI); cross-gain modulation (XGM); cross-phase modulation (XPM); semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA);

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics, IEEE Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1077-260X

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/JSTQE.2006.889048

Filename

4084536