TRAVELING-WAVE EFFECTS FOR WAVELENGTH CONVERSION BY CROSS-GAIN AND CROSS-PHASE MODULATION IN OPTICAL AMPLIFIERS

Wavelength conversion by cross-gain modulation is studied in semicondu ctor optical amplifiers, using a combination of numerical modelling an d small-signal analysis. travelling-wave effects are found to play a v ery important role in determining functional characteristics. In the c onfiguration where the signal and destination wavelengths propagate in the same direction along the amplifier waveguide, the conversion band width is found to increase linearly with the amplifier length, up to a t least 100 GHz. A simple formula explaining this is derived. In the c ounter-propagating beam configuration, the conversion bandwidth is lim ited by Fabry-Perot-like nodes due to phase-mismatch effects.