All-optical sampling based on semiconductor optical amplifiers towards high-speed optical analog-to-digital conversion

摘要

All-optical sampling attracts considerable attention due to its crucial applications in high-speed optical analog-to-digital conversion. We present an all-optical sampling scheme using a single semiconductor optical amplifier, In the experiment, 40 GSa/s all-optical sampling for 2.5 GHz analog optical signal is successfully demonstrated with commercially available fiber-pigtailed components. The all-optical sampling shows a fundamental conversion efficiency of 1.35 and a total harmonic distortion of 2.01% at the operating power of 5 mW. Our scheme requires only one semiconductor optical amplifier and has low power consumption, which shows much potential for the high-speed optical analog-to-digital conversion.