Experimental study of four-wave mixing based on a quantum dot semiconductor optical amplifier

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of four-wave mixing (FWM) in a semiconductor optical amplifier with quantum dots (QD-SOA). Experimental measurements of FWM signals are characterized in nonlinear media of GaAs-based QD-SOA with gain in the 1,550 nm region. Theoretical part of nonlinear effect of FWM is studied and important all-optical communication applications are listed. Experimental studies of a four-wave system are described and an analysis of FWM signals is given for various input powers of pump signals and injection currents. The devices are compared in terms of such parameters as conversion efficiency and signal-to-noise ratio. The results of the study made it possible to reveal the possibility of the effect of FWM signals on useful signals in channels with spectral division multiplexing wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) in the downstream and upstream in a semiconductor optical amplifier. Based on the experimental results, it was concluded that FWM does not affect adjacent channels of WDM signals and does not generate additional optical noise when scaling the WDM gigabit passive optical network (GPON) up to 60 km using semiconductor optical amplifiers (SOAs).