All-optical wavelength conversion of a 100-Gb/s polarization-multiplexed signal

Area of Science:

• Photonics and Optical Communications
• Nonlinear Optics
• Integrated Optics

Background:

• All-optical wavelength conversion is essential for flexible optical networks.
• Polarization-multiplexed (POLMUX) signals increase data capacity but pose conversion challenges.
• High-speed data modulation formats like differential quadrature phase-shift keying (DQPSK) require efficient conversion techniques.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate all-optical wavelength conversion of a 100-Gb/s POLMUX signal.
• To explore the impact of setup non-idealities on conversion performance.
• To demonstrate penalty-free wavelength conversion using a periodically poled lithium niobate waveguide.

Main Methods:

• Experimental investigation of all-optical wavelength conversion.
• Utilizing a periodically poled lithium niobate waveguide with a high nonlinear coefficient.
• Employing a polarization-independent configuration for the wavelength converter.
• Modulating each polarization channel at 25 Gbaud with DQPSK.

Main Results:

• Slight non-idealities in the polarization-independent setup significantly degrade POLMUX system performance.
• High-quality wavelength conversion was achieved for both polarization channels.
• Penalty-free all-optical wavelength conversion was demonstrated for the 100-Gb/s POLMUX DQPSK signal using direct detection.

Conclusions:

• Accurate optimization of the wavelength converter setup is critical for high-performance POLMUX systems.
• Periodically poled lithium niobate waveguides are effective for all-optical wavelength conversion.
• This work represents the first demonstration of penalty-free all-optical wavelength conversion in a 100-Gb/s POLMUX system with direct detection.