Ultrafast nonlinear optical loop mirror fordemultiplexing 640 Gbit/s TDM signals

Abstract

A 640 Gbit/s TDM signal has been successfully demultiplexed to 10 Gbit/s with a walk-off free, ultrafast, 450 m long nonlinear optical loop mirror (NOLM). The NOLM consists of nine 50 m long sections of dispersion flattened fibre (DFF) with different group delay characteristics. The walk-off between the signal and control pulses for each of the nine fibres was within ±400 fs. By properly connecting them, a total walk-off of < 100 fs has been achieved.