Effects of control-signal pulse walk-off on BER performance of nonlinear optical loop mirror demultiplexer

The effects of pulse walk-off between control and signal pulses on the BER performance of an NOLM demultiplexer are studied at 32 Gbit/s using a wavelength tunable mode-locked Er/sup 3+/-doped fibre ring laser. It is confirmed that BER degradation caused by timing errors is effectively suppressed by choosing an appropriate amount of pulse walk-off. >