Use of femtosecond square pulses to avoid pulse breakup in all-optical switching

The authors report measurements of ultrafast all-optical switching in dual-core fiber nonlinear couplers. By performing the measurements with square optical pulses, the pulse breakup which occurs in experiments performed by using conventional bell-shaped pulses is minimized. Compared to measurements performed by using conventional bell-shaped pulses, the measurements yield decreased switching power, a sharper switching transition, and improved power transfer. It is concluded that square pulse switching can be utilized to enhance the switching performance of any ultrafast all-optical switching device triggered by instantaneous intensity. >

[1]  J. Etchepare,et al.  Electronic nonlinear optical susceptibilities of silicate glasses. , 1985, Optics letters.

[2]  A. Maier,et al.  Breakup of an ultrashort pulse in the course of self-switching of light in tunnel-coupled waveguides , 1987 .

[3]  Naomi J. Halas,et al.  Ultrafast light‐controlled optical‐fiber modulator , 1987 .

[4]  K. Kitayama,et al.  Optical pulse compression by nonlinear coupling , 1983 .

[5]  A. Snyder,et al.  Optical fiber couplers-optimum solution for unequal cores , 1988 .

[6]  Julian Stone,et al.  Photorefractivity in GeO2‐doped silica fibers , 1987 .

[7]  Andrew M. Weiner,et al.  High-resolution femtosecond pulse shaping , 1988 .

[8]  J P Heritage,et al.  Encoding and decoding of femtosecond pulses. , 1988, Optics letters.

[9]  Toshio Morioka,et al.  Ultrafast optical multi/demultiplexer utilising optical kerb effect in polarisation-maintaining single-mode fibres , 1987 .

[10]  Yaron Silberberg,et al.  Ultrafast all-optical switching in a dual-core fiber nonlinear coupler , 1987 .

[11]  V. B. Neustruev,et al.  Experimental observation of the self-switching of radiation in tunnel-coupled optical waveguides , 1987 .

[12]  N. Doran,et al.  Soliton processing element for all-optical switching and logic , 1987 .

[13]  K. Kitayama,et al.  Fiber‐optic logic gate , 1985 .

[14]  Y. Silberberg,et al.  Sensitivity of two core fiber coupling to light-induced defects , 1989, IEEE Photonics Technology Letters.

[15]  G. Stegeman,et al.  Soliton switching in fiber nonlinear directional couplers. , 1988, Optics letters.

[16]  S. M. Jensen.  The Nonlinear Coherent Coupler , 1982 .

[17]  B. Y. Kim,et al.  Optical Kerr switch using elliptical-core two-mode fiber. , 1988, Optics letters.

[18]  J. Gordon,et al.  Modulation-instability-based fiber interferometer switch near 1.5 microm. , 1988, Optics letters.

[19]  George I. Stegeman,et al.  Picosecond nonlinear polarization switching with a fiber filter , 1988 .

[20]  Y. Silberberg,et al.  Femtosecond All-Optical Switching in Nonlinear Directional Couplers , 1988 .

[21]  George I. Stegeman,et al.  Experimental observation of polarization instability in a birefringent optical fiber , 1986 .

[22]  Y. Silberberg,et al.  Femotosecond switching in a dual-core-fiber nonlinear coupler. , 1988, Optics letters.

[23]  G. Stegeman,et al.  Nonlinear propagation and self-switching of ultrashort optical pulses in fiber nonlinear directional couplers: the normal dispersion regime , 1989 .

[24]  W H Knox,et al.  Amplified femtosecond optical pulses and continuum generation at 5-kHz repetition rate. , 1984, Optics letters.

[25]  J P Heritage,et al.  Synthesis of phase-coherent, picosecond optical square pulses. , 1986, Optics letters.

[26]  J. Chrostowski,et al.  Optical pulse compression and breaking in nonlinear fibre couplers , 1986 .