ABSORPTIVE AND DISPERSIVE SWITCHING IN A 3 REGION INGAASP SEMICONDUCTOR-LASER AMPLIFIER AT 1.57 MU-M

The absorptive and dispersive nonlinear characteristics of a novel three region InGaAsP laser amplifier are presented. Nonlinear amplification is seen over a 15 nm wavelength range. The effects of input power, signal frequency detuning and gain on the nonlinear characteristics are investigated. A 12 GHz transmission bandwidth for the absorptive nonlinearity is found. The device exhibited 16 dB nonlinear gain with a minimum nonlinear threshold of – 25 dBm. The rise time for the nonlinear switching was < 350 ps, showing that this type of device has application to high-data-rate optical transmission systems. © 1990 Taylor & Francis Ltd.