Open AccessVariable optical delay using population oscillation and four-wave-mixing in semiconductor optical amplifiers
Author(s) -
Hui Shen,
Piotr Konrad Kondratko,
Shun Lien Chuang
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.14.004800
Subject(s) - optical amplifier , optics , four wave mixing , materials science , semiconductor , optoelectronics , amplifier , bandwidth (computing) , population , physics , nonlinear optics , telecommunications , laser , computer science , demography , cmos , sociology
We investigate variable optical delay of a microwave modulated optical beam in semiconductor optical amplifier/absorber waveguides with population oscillation (PO) and nearly degenerate four-wave-mixing (NDFWM) effects. An optical delay variable between 0 and 160 ps with a 1.0 GHz bandwidth is achieved in an InGaAsP/InP semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) and shown to be electrically and optically controllable. An analytical model of optical delay is developed and found to agree well with the experimental data. Based on this model, we obtain design criteria to optimize the delay-bandwidth product of the optical delay in semiconductor optical amplifiers and absorbers.