New generation of all-optical devices for future communication networks

The need to increase transmission capacity in communication networks is becoming very critical. This task can be accomplished by taking advantage of optical networks where techniques such as DWDM and OTDM are combined with the use of all-optical devices to help eliminate electronic bottlenecks. To fulfill these needs a new class of all-optical devices have been proposed and successfully demonstrated. By taking advantage of the nonlinear dynamics in semiconductor optical amplifiers in combination with optical interferometers new generation of ultrafast all-optical demultiplexers, data regenerators, wavelength, and data format converters have been developed.