Symmetric operating point for increasing the extinction ratio of semiconductor based optical loop mirrors

Terahertz optical asymmetric demultiplexors (TOADs) use a semiconductor optical amplifier in an interferometer to create an all-optical switch and have potential uses in many optical networking applications. Here we demonstrate and compare experimentally a novel and simple method of dramatically increasing the extinction ratio of the device using a symmetrical configuration as compared to a ‘traditional’ configuration. The new configuration is designed to suppress the occurrence of self-switching in the device thus allowing signal pulses to be used at higher power levels. Using the proposed configuration an increase in extinction ratio of 10 dB has been measured on the transmitted port whilst benefiting from an improved input signal power handling capability.

Design of fast core node processor for packet forwarding without header modification in optical networks

We present a design of a fast all-optical core-node processor that performs packet-forwarding in optical networks without header-modification. The design is based on bit-serial architecture using TOADs as logic-gates that perform modulo-arithmetic to forward packets.