Nondegenerate four-wave mixing wavelength conversion in low-loss passive InGaAsP/InP waveguides

Wavelength conversion devices (WCD), which allow the transcription of information carried on one set of optical wavelengths onto another, are useful for wavelength division multiplexing optical networks. A common approach is to utilize nondegenerate four-wave mixing (FWM) in semiconductor optical amplifiers or dispersion-shifted silica fibers. Here we describe FWM in passive InGaAsP/InP quantum-well waveguides using the near-bandedge excitonic resonance nonlinearity. Compared with FWM in active semiconductors, passive semiconductors require higher optical pump power, but are simpler, do not depend on free-carrier effects, and therefore have the potential advantage of simultaneous ultrahigh speed and broadband direct optical-to-optical conversion. Compared to silica fibers, semiconductors have several orders of magnitude lower latency, and have the potential for compact, monolithic integration