40 Gb/s 2R Burst Mode Receiver with a single integrated SOA-MZI switch.

ABSTRACT

We demonstrate a novel scheme for 2R burst mode reception capable of operating error-free with 40 Gb/s variable length, asynchronous optical data packets that exhibit up to 9 dB packet-to-packet power variation. It consists of a single, hybrid integrated, SOA-based Mach-Zehnder Interferometer (SOA-MZI) with unequal splitting ratio couplers, configured to operate as a self-switch. We analyze theoretically the power equalization properties of unequal splitting ratio SOA-MZI switches and show good agreement between theory and experiment.