title: NRZ/RZ 40 Gbit/s optical regenerator based on a photonic two-level nonlinear device.
abstract: A compact device with a two-level transfer function (TF) implemented with two semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA)-based stages is proposed and characterized. Each stage exploits nonlinear polarization rotation and self-phase modulation. The obtained improved TF with very flat top and bottom levels makes the scheme suitable for working as a reshaper in all-optical regeneration. The effectiveness of the device is verified in regenerating both nonreturn-to-zero (NRZ) and return-to-zero (RZ) data signals up to 40 Gb/s. Bit error rate measurements demonstrate increased threshold margin and extinction ratio improvement.
authors.affiliation: Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, via Moruzzi 1, Pisa 56124, Italy. valeria.vercesi@sssup.it
authors.forename: Valeria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Vercesi
authors.forename: Mirco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Scaffardi
authors.forename: Antonella
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bogoni