O-TDM demultiplexer with 40-dB gain based on a fiber optical parametric amplifier

Abstract

We demonstrate a broad-band time-division demultiplexer with inherent gain based on selective amplification in a fiber optical parametric amplifier. The parametric amplifier is pumped by a CW light source being sinusoidally intensity modulated by an optical Mach-Zehnder modulator. A switching window between 10% and 18% of the modulation period is measured over a 39 nm wavelength range with a demultiplexed fiber gain of up to 40 dB. Four-wave mixing based demultiplexing without wavelength conversion was achieved due to the high parametric gain. Bit-error-rate measurements show error-free demultiplexing at 40 to 10 Gb/s.