Light-by-Light Polarization Control of 10-Gb/s RZ and NRZ Telecommunication Signals

Controlling the state of polarization of a light beam propagating in a standard single-mode fiber by means of a lossless and instantaneous interaction is a fundamental effect of great interest for telecommunication applications and all-optical signal processing. In this paper, we experimentally demonstrate light-by-light polarization control via a nonlinear interaction occurring in single-mode optical fiber between a signal wave and a counterpropagating control pump beam. We observe a polarization attraction and stabilization of a 10-Gb/s optical telecommunication signal around 1550 nm for either return to zero or nonreturn to zero modulation format. These experimental results confirm yet another fascinating possibility to all-optical control the light properties in optical fiber.