Use of fast in-line saturable absorbers in wavelength-division-multiplexed soliton systems

Abstract

The potential of fast in-line saturable absorbers is investigated for multiwavelength soliton systems. Numerical simulations demonstrate that both synchronous and asynchronous 4/spl times/10 Gb/s transmissions are possible with this technique. Limitations by finite absorber dynamics are also analyzed. Q factors close to 10 are obtained for a 4/spl times/10 Gb/s transmission with constant dispersion, provided that the absorber recovery time does not exceed 10 ps. The results demonstrate the capability of saturable absorbers to enhance performance in passive wavelength-division-multiplexed (WDM) soliton systems.