Tunable optical wavelength converters with reconfigurable functionality

We propose novel circuits for tunable all-optical wavelength converters with reconfigurable functionality. Circuits for wavelength converters based on cross-gain modulation (XGM) and cross-phase modulation (XPM) in semiconductor optical amplifiers (SOAs) are considered, for both copropagating and counterpropagating pump and probe signals. The circuits use arrayed-waveguide grating multiplexers (AWGMs) to filter and route signals in and out of the SOAs. The AWGM's minimize the component count in the circuits and may lead to future integration of wavelength converters. We experimentally demonstrate a XGM wavelength converter with copropagating pump and probe signals and report its bit-error-rate (BER) performance at 2.5 Gb/s.