Impact of extinction ratio and switching efficiency of nonlinear optical loop mirror demultiplexer on error rate performance

A theory is evaluated that allows the calculation of the worst-case input power penalty of an optical demultiplexer using a nonlinear optical loop mirror (NOLM) as high-speed switch. Due to finite NOLM extinction ratio and switching efficiency reduction there exists a strong dependence of the penalty on the bitrate of the drop channel, which is investigated for different 100 Gbit/s demultiplexer configurations. Assuming a NOLM of 2 km loop fiber, a 20-dB extinction ratio, and a switching pulse EDFA of 14.5 dBm, demultiplexing with a penalty of less than 7 dB should be possible for drop rates between 2.5 GHz and 11.1 GHz.<
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