Degenerate wavelength operation of an ultrafast all-optical AND gate using four wave mixing in a semiconductor laser amplifier

A new, ultrafast, all-optical AND gate that operates on input signals at the same wavelength using four-wave mixing in a semiconductor laser amplifier is presented. Successful operation of the gate on 20 ps pulses modulated at 3 Gbit/s is descrihed. The device has applications in photonic networks operating at > 100 Gbit/s.