160-gb/s OTDM signal source with 3R function utilizing ultrafast mode-locked laser diodes and modified NOLM

High-quality 160-Gb/s optical time-division-multiplexing (OTDM) signal source with 3R functions was demonstrated using ultrafast mode-locked laser diodes (MLLDs) and a nonlinear optical fiber loop mirror (NOLM) modified with inline and external polarizers and an inline optical phase-bias compensator. Pulse quality for each OTDM channel was successfully improved and equalized owing to the clock extraction at the true data bit rate using a 160-GHz MLLD and also to the improvement of the switching performance of the NOLM.