Performance of single semiconductor optical amplifier-based ultrafast nonlinear interferometer with clock-control signals timing deviation in dual rail-switching mode

The performance of a single semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA)-based ultrafast nonlinear interferometer that is simultaneously driven by two ultrafast data streams with respect to the timing deviation between these signals and the standard clock input is theoretically studied and investigated. For this purpose, a numerical model is applied to simulate the operation of the specific module in pattern-operated dual rail-switching mode and under the presence of such imperfect synchronization. The thorough analysis and interpretation of the obtained results allows one to evaluate the impact of this temporal offset on the achievement of both bitwise logical correctness and high quality at the output. In this manner, the conditions that it must necessarily fulfill are derived and the dependence of its permissible margin and accordingly the way the latter can be extended is revealed, while its optimal amount for maximizing the defined metric is quantified by the difference between the orthogonal polarization clock components' relative walk-off and the control pulse width. These findings can help compensate for the existence of this effect as well as strengthen the tolerance against it so that it can be properly handled in the context of the considered type of SOA-based interferometric switch. (C) 2009 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers. [DOI: 10.1117/1.3202837]