A novel self-synchronization scheme for all-optical packet networks

A novel self-synchronization scheme utilizing a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) monolithically integrated with a delay interferometer (DI) is proposed and numerically demonstrated in this letter. The proposed scheme is based on the fast gain saturation and relatively slow gain recovery of the SOA. With the properly chosen DI delay time, input pulsewidth, and SOA carrier lifetime, input pulse energies as low as 100 fJ can be utilized to achieve a larger than 10-dB contrast ratio of the first to the other pulses of a transmitted packet.