Theoretical analysis of all-optical 2R regeneration in a SOA-based Mach–Zehnder interferometer

Abstract All-optical 2R regeneration in a semiconductor optical amplifier-based Mach–Zehnder interferometer is theoretically analyzed. It is shown that the chirp of the regenerated signal is positive, while the input signal has no chirp. The peak extinction ratio (ER) of the regenerated signal is associated with the input wavelength and there exists an input wavelength corresponding to the largest ER of the output signal. The output peak ER is also found influenced by the input power, with lower input power getting higher peak ER.