Four Wave Mixing in Quantum Dot Semiconductor Optical Amplifiers

We report an extensive experimental characterization of four wave mixing (FWM) in InAs/InGaAsP/InP columnar quantum dot semiconductor optical amplifiers (QD-SOAs). This paper includes a characterization of the QD-SOA and of the single and double pump FWM performance. The double pump case is studied in both the orthogonal and parallel pumps configurations. Unprecedented ultrabroadband and efficient wavelength conversion are found including, for the two pumps case, 100-nm conversion span in the telecom bands around 1550 nm (S/C/L bands) with positive conversion efficiency and more than 30-dB output optical signal-to-noise ratio.