State selection of a bistable SOA ring laser for bit level optical memory applications

In this letter, we demonstrate the selection between two bistable states of a semiconductor fiber ring laser, using bits from a timeslot channel switched out using a terahertz optical asymmetric demultiplexer. By changing the selected timeslot channel, we were able to change the semiconductor fiber ring laser from a state with a two-peak output at 1570.6 and 1579 nm to a state with one-peak output at 1570.6 nm. This structure has potential application to optical memories.