Pulse generation in interferometers employing semiconductor optical amplifiers

Summary form only given. Interferometers employing semiconductor optical amplifiers (SOA) have been widely used as all optical switches. Typically these switches are driven by short light pulses generated by mode-locked semiconductor lasers. This paper shows how the SOA based interferometers themselves can provide a new source of short light pulses. A SOA followed by a Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) is shown. Square wave modulated light is sent into the SOA. During the square wave rising edge, the SOA refractive index changes due to the decreasing SOA carrier number. The refractive index change causes the phase of light output from the SOA to change.