Influence of probe depletion and cross-gain modulation on four-wave mixing of picosecond optical pulses in semiconductor optical amplifiers

The influence of probe depletion (PD) and cross-gain modulation (XGM) on four-wave mixing (FWM) of picosecond optical pulses in semiconductor optical amplifiers has been investigated numerically. The effects of PD and XGM become more significant for shorter input pulsewidth, higher pulse energy and smaller pump-probe frequency detuning. Results indicate that if the effects of PD and XGM are neglected the FWM efficiency can be seriously overestimated.