Polarization effect on optical xor performance based on four-wave mixing

Mable P. Fok, Paul R. Prucnal

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

19 Scopus citations

Abstract

Polarization sensitivity of an optical exclusive or (xor) gate based on four-wave mixing (FWM) in highly nonlinear fiber is investigated. FWM is a polarization-sensitive process, and the optical xor gate can be built using this polarization-sensitive characteristic. The FWM-based optical xor does not require the input signals to have narrow pulsewidths, and works well for nonreturn-to-zero (NRZ) signals. We experimentally demonstrate the xor of two NRZ polarization-modulated (PolM) signals using a 35-cm highly nonlinear bismuth oxide fiber, and analyze the effect of polarization mismatch on the xor output. The bit-error rate is measured with different polarization settings between the two inputs, and a power penalty of only 0.5 dB results from 10° of polarization misalignment. The polarization modulation depth accuracy of the optical xor inputs are found to be important to avoid uncertainty in the xor logic levels. The difference in the xor logic level cannot prevent the xor input logic being visible from the output, which is not favorable in certain xor applications.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number5471078
Pages (from-to)1096-1098
Number of pages3
JournalIEEE Photonics Technology Letters
Volume22
Issue number15
DOIs
StatePublished - 2010

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
  • Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering

Keywords

  • Bismuth-oxide highly nonlinear fiber
  • four-wave mixing (FWM)
  • optical logic
  • polarization

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