A Mach-Zehnder-interferometer-based low-loss combiner

Passive optical combiners have an unwanted 3-dB loss. This is avoided with optical switches, but these need control functions to synchronize with the optical signals. A nonlinear Mach-Zehnder interferometer can provide the combiner function without control signals. In the experiment reported here, this combiner was realized with a fiber component. Semiconductor optical amplifiers (SOAs) acted as the nonlinear phase shifting elements. Thus a proof-of-principle for the self-routing combiner is obtained: optical signals on either of the two input ports are guided to one and the same output port without any control mechanism in the interferometer. The nonlinear effect used is self-phase modulation, caused by carrier depletion in the SOAs as they approach saturation. The optical power at which the nonlinear switching occurred was about -2 dBm. The residual combiner loss was only 0.7 dB.