Title :
Optical Square-Wave Clock Generation Based on an All-Optical Flip-Flop
Author :
Kaplan, Aaron M. ; Agrawal, Govind P. ; Maywar, Drew N.
Author_Institution :
Univ. of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA
fDate :
4/1/2010 12:00:00 AM
Abstract :
We demonstrate optical square-wave clock generation based on an all-optical flip-flop. The bistable output power from a resonant-type semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) is switched on and off by modulating its input with its output via cross-gain modulation in a traveling-wave SOA. All active components are driven by dc currents, and the wavelength and clock frequency are selectable. A clock frequency of 3.5 MHz is demonstrated, limited by the time of flight between bulk optical components. Optical square-wave clock signals are promising for applications in photonic integrated circuits and all-optical signal processing.
Keywords :
band-pass filters; distributed feedback lasers; electro-optical modulation; electro-optical switches; flip-flops; integrated optics; integrated optoelectronics; laser tuning; light polarisation; optical bistability; optical control; optical information processing; optical logic; optical transfer function; photodiodes; semiconductor optical amplifiers; square-wave generators; all-optical flip-flop; all-optical signal processing; bandpass filter; bistable output power; bistable transfer function; clock frequency; continuous-wave DFB laser diode; cross-gain modulation; dc current; frequency 3.5 MHz; optical square-wave clock generation; photodiode; photonic integrated circuit; polarization controller; resonant-type semiconductor optical amplifier; switched OFF state; switched ON state; traveling-wave SOA; tunable wavelength; Clocks; flip-flops; optical bistability; optical signal processing;
Journal_Title :
Photonics Technology Letters, IEEE
DOI :
10.1109/LPT.2010.2040997
