Two-section travelling-wave semiconductor laser amplifier optoelectronic time division demultiplexer

Optical time division multiplexing has been demonstrated as an efficient method of increasing the transmission capacity of optical fibre networks. Multi-section semiconductor travelling-wave laser amplifiers (TWLAs) have attracted interest recently for use in all-optical networks. A multisection TWLA along with associated circuitry may be used to demultiplex a TDM data stream in to two composite electrical channels or to select a channel from a multi-channel TDM system. Such an optoelectronic time division demultiplexer (OETDDM) enables the simultaneous detection and amplification of optical TDM signals while preserving full network transparency. The demultiplexing function is carried out optoelectronically so the requirement for high speed electronic demultiplexers is eliminated