All-optical RZ to NRZ data format and wavelength conversion using an injection locked laser

All-optical RZ-to-NRZ data format conversion using a repetition-rate doubler and an injection-locked Fabry-Perot laser diode is demonstrated at 10 Gb/s. Conversion of signal wavelength is achieved simutaneouly. At a bit-error-rate of 10(-9), a power penalty of 2.5 dB was observed in the format conversion. The spectral width of the data-format converted NRZ signal (14 GHz) was reduced compared with the input RZ signal (25 GHz), making the converted signal more spectrally efficient for use in dense-wavelength-division-multiplexed (DWDM) access networks. We also describe numerical analysis which indicates the optimum delay in the repetition-rate doubler for format conversion. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.