Performance analysis of ultrafast all-optical Boolean XOR gate using semiconductor optical amplifier-based Mach–Zehnder Interferometer

• Published in: Optics communications Vol. 232; no. 1; pp. 179 - 199
• Main Authors: Houbavlis, T., Zoiros, K.E., Kanellos, G., Tsekrekos, C.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 01.03.2004; Elsevier Science
• Subjects: All-optical Boolean XOR logic; All-optical signal processing; All-optical switching; Applied sciences; Circuit properties; Design and performance testing of integrated-optical systems; Electric, optical and optoelectronic circuits; Electronics; Exact sciences and technology; Fundamental areas of phenomenology (including applications); Integrated optics. Optical fibers and wave guides; Optical and optoelectronic circuits; Optical communication systems, multiplexers, and demultiplexers; Optical computers, logic elements, interconnects, switches; neural networks; Optical elements, devices, and systems; Optical time division multiplexing (OTDM) networks; Optics; Physics; Semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA); SOA-based Mach–Zehnder Interferometer (SOA-MZI); Systems, networks and services of telecommunications; Telecommunications; Telecommunications and information theory; Transmission and modulation (techniques and equipments); All-optical signal processing; All-optical Boolean XOR logic; All-optical switching; Optical time division multiplexing (OTDM) networks; Semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA); SOA-based Mach–Zehnder Interferometer (SOA-MZI); Semiconductor optical amplifiers; Optical signal; Optical switching; Boolean logic; XOR circuit; Mach Zehnder interferometer; Theoretical study; Signal processing; Time division multiplexing; All optical circuit; Modeling; Optical circuit
• ISSN: 0030-4018; 1873-0310
• DOI: 10.1016/j.optcom.2003.12.062

An all-optical Boolean XOR gate implemented with a SOA-based Mach–Zehnder Interferometer (SOA-MZI) is numerically simulated at 10 and 40 Gb/s to extract simple design rules. If the control and clock energies are properly selected so that the SOAs are heavily saturated and at the same time the switched-out pulses are not distorted, the metrics that define the quality of switching can be optimized for high gate performance at 10 Gb/s. However, the operation at 40 Gb/s is limited by the SOAs gain recovery time that results in strong pattern dependence of the output pulses and so the extension to this rate requires the deployment of gain recovery reduction techniques in bulk and quantum-well SOAs or alternatively the exploitation of other technologically advanced optical devices, such as quantum-dot SOAs.