All-Optical Bit-Rate Flexible NRZ-to-RZ Conversion Using an SOA-Loop Mirror and a CW Holding Beam

All-optical non-return-to-zero (NRZ) -toreturn-to-zero (RZ) data-format conversion has been successfully demonstrated using a semiconductor optical amplifier in a fiber-loop mirror (so-called SOA-loop mirror) with a continuous-wave (CW) holding beam. The converted RZ signal after pulse compression has been used to create a 40 Gb/s OTDM (Optical Time Division Multiplexing) signal. Here is proposed an NRZ-to-RZ conversion method without any additional optical clocks, unlike conventional methods based on optical AND logic. In addition, it has the merit of operating at various bit-rate speeds without any controlling device. Moreover, it has a simple structure, and it can be used for all-optical bit-rate-flexible clock recovery.