Abstract
A free-space contra-propagation configuration is implemented
and pump-probe studies are undertaken in order to study polarization-dependent
gain dynamics in bulk semiconductor optical amplifiers (SOAs) and their application
to gain and polarization switching. The polarization dependence of the gain
compression shows that the co-polarized case, in which the pump and probe
are TE-polarized,
is the optimum for gain switching. When injecting light polarized at 45°, an additional contribution
due to the presence of rotating fields is observed, and the cross-polarized
case is found to be the most promising for polarization switching. The potential
for all-optical switching based on nonlinear polarization rotation (NLPR)
induced in the SOA is then assessed through characterization of the dynamics
of the state of polarization. It is demonstrated that by careful selection
of the orientation of a linear polarizer in front of the detector, it is possible
to reduce the recovery time from 100 to 5 ps. The improvement comes about
from the selection of the intraband fast gain recovery dynamics. Polarization
switching offers potentially faster switching times compared to gain switching
as well as an extinction ratio improvement of ~10 dB.
© IEEE
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