Optimisation of 40 Gb/s wavelength converters based on four-wave mixing in a semiconductor optical amplifier

Abstract The optimum operating powers and wavelengths for a 40 Gb/s wavelength converter based on four-wave mixing in a semiconductor optical amplifier are inferred from experimental results. From these measurements, some general rules of thumb are derived for this kind of devices. Generally, the optimum signal power should be 10 dB lower than the pump power (−16 dB conversion efficiency) whereas the wavelength separation between the signal and the pump carrier should not be lower than about four times the signal bitrate (1.3 nm for 40 Gb/s RZ signals).