Study on the dynamic range of input power for wavelength converter based on cross-phase modulation in SOAs ☆

In this paper, the dynamic range of input power for wavelength converter based on cross-phase modulation (XPM) in semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) is studied. The dynamic range of input power is associated with the linewidth enhancement factor α, which is influenced by optical wavelength and power. Shorter wavelength and larger power can induce smaller α and lead to a larger dynamic range, while the gain modulation is more severe. Through dynamically controlling the current of the phase arm of the XPM wavelength converter by the detection of the input signal power level, the dynamic range of input power can be increased from 2 to 17 dB.