Wavelength conversion based on an integrated semiconductor optical amplifier/DFB laser at 10 Gb/s with low input power

Summary form only given. This paper reports a study of the relative performance of an integrated SOA/DFB laser wavelength converter that can operate with negative penalties at 10 Gb/s rates. It is found that reductions of more than 25 times in required input powers are achieved when compared with laser or SOA converters. Wavelength conversion in the SOA/DFB laser is achieved by injecting signals into the amplifier section of the device and then detecting the converted output from the laser section. The amplifier acts both to amplify the input light and sculpt it for improved wavelength conversion in the laser. In order to study the device, a series of experimental measurements and theoretical simulations have been carried out, the numerical simulations involving full multisection SOA rate equation and lumped diode laser models. The distinctive feature of the simulation is the simultaneous modeling of the counterpropagating signals both in the SOA and laser sections.