Use of femtosecond square pulses to avoid pulse breakup in all-optical switching

Author

Weiner, Andrew M. ; Silberberg, Yaron ; Fouckhardt, Henning ; Leaird, Danel E. ; Saifi, M.A. ; Andrejco, M.J. ; Smith, Peter W.

Author_Institution

Bellcore, Red Bank, NJ, USA

Volume

25

Issue

12

fYear

1989

fDate

12/1/1989 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

2648

Lastpage

2655

Abstract

The authors report measurements of ultrafast all-optical switching in dual-core fiber nonlinear couplers. By performing the measurements with square optical pulses, the pulse breakup which occurs in experiments performed by using conventional bell-shaped pulses is minimized. Compared to measurements performed by using conventional bell-shaped pulses, the measurements yield decreased switching power, a sharper switching transition, and improved power transfer. It is concluded that square pulse switching can be utilized to enhance the switching performance of any ultrafast all-optical switching device triggered by instantaneous intensity

Keywords

fibre optics; high-speed optical techniques; nonlinear optics; optical couplers; optical fibres; optical switches; all-optical switching; conventional bell-shaped pulses; dual-core fiber nonlinear couplers; femtosecond square pulses; instantaneous intensity; power transfer; pulse breakup; sharper switching transition; square pulse switching; switching performance; switching power; ultrafast all-optical switching; Communication switching; Glass; Optical fiber couplers; Optical fiber devices; Optical fiber polarization; Optical fibers; Optical pulses; Pulse measurements; Switches; Ultrafast optics;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Quantum Electronics, IEEE Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9197

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/3.40653

Filename

40653