Effects of control-signal pulse walk-off on BER performance of nonlinear optical loop mirror demultiplexer

Abstract

The effects of pulse walk-off between control and signal pulses on the BER performance of an NOLM demultiplexer are studied at 32Gbit/s using a wavelength tunable modelocked Er3+-doped fibre ring laser. It is confirmed that BER degradation caused by timing errors is effectively suppressed by choosing an appropriate amount of pulse walk-off.