All-optical wavelength and pulse-width conversions with a Sagnac interferometer semiconductor–based switch

A Sagnac interferometer switch with a semiconductor optical amplifier is proposed for all-optical wavelength and pulse-width conversions. The configuration of this switch is simple, and the switching speed is not limited by the semiconductor carrier's recovery time. The pulse width of the input data, 1.5 ps, is converted to 2.4-18.1 ps. A wavelength conversion of input data at 1539 nm to a tunable-wavelength bandwidth of 15 nm (1550-1565 nm) is also demonstrated.