40 Gb/s all-optical packet clock recovery with ultrafast lock-in time and low inter-packet guardbands

We demonstrate a 40 Gb/s self-synchronizing, all-optical packet clock recovery circuit designed for efficient packet-mode traffic. The circuit locks instantaneously and enables sub-nanosecond packet spacing due to thelow clock persistence time. A low-Q Fabry-Perot filter is used as a passive resonator tuned to the line-rate that generates a retimed clock-resembling signal. As a reshaping element, an optical power-limiting gate is incorporated to perform bitwise pulse equalization. Using two preamble bits, the clock is captured instantly and persists for the duration of the data packet increased by 16 bits. The performance of the circuit suggests its suitability for future all-optical packet-switched networks with reduced transmission overhead and fine network granularity.