An All-Optical Buffer Based on Non-Degenerate Phase-Sensitive Parametric Amplification

The scheme of an optical buffer exploiting phase-sensitive amplification based non-degenerate four-wave mixing is presented and theoretically analyzed. The noise figure of the proposed buffer is analytically and numerically estimated as a function of the number of circulations inside the buffer cavity. Two principal configurations are studied depending on the position of the amplification unit inside the cavity. The analysis is supported by split-step Fourier simulations, which reveal different aspects of the buffer's operation. The performance is also estimated for modulated signals in terms of Q-factor and compared to buffers utilizing phase-insensitive amplification.