2R regeneration based on multimodal SOA-based structures

Research Area: III-V Semiconductor Photonic ICs

Main Researcher: Jan De Merlier

A study of the non-linear behaviour of multimodal SOA-based components has lead to the design and fabrication and characterisation of two novel types of 2R (Reshaping and Reamplification) regenerators. A first type is based on a 2X2 MMI-SOA which has been shown to operate at 10 Gb/s for RZ signals. A second type is based on a Mach-Zehnder interferometer containing a single mode SOA in one arm and a 1X1 MMi-SOA in the other arm. This has resulted in a very steep steplike transfer function offering the possibility of simultaneous noise suppression and extinction ratio improvement. This effect has been demonstrated at 2.5 Gb/s resulting in a receiver sensitivity improvement of 5 dB.

Other people involved:

• Jan De Merlier

PhD thesises