Polarization-Insensitive Wavelength Conversion by FWM of 100-GHz-Spaced DWDM 4$,times,$10 Gb/s RZ-BPSK Signals in a Birefringent Nonlinear AlGaAs Waveguide

摘要

Polarization-insensitive (PI) wavelength conversion of 100-GHz-spaced wavelength-division multiplexed 4$,times,$10 Gb/s return-to-zero binary phase-shift keyed (RZ-BPSK) signals was successfully demonstrated utilizing four-wave mixing for the first time in a passive, birefringent nonlinear AlGaAs waveguide. In addition to a pump launch angle adjustment, a minimum pump-probe detuning was also required to mitigate polarization-induced power fluctuations in the probe. The PI-wavelength-converted signals all demonstrated a pre-amplified receiver sensitivity penalty of less than ${approx}{rm 2}~{rm dB}$ at $10^{-9}~{rm bit}$-error-rate, relative to their respective baseline RZ-BPSK signals.