Ultrafast gain and index in semiconductor optical amplifier: theory and experiment

Harm J. S. Dorren; Xuelin Yang; Daan Lenstra; H. de Waardt; Giok-Djan Khoe; Takasi Simoyama; Hiroshi Ishikawa; Hitoshi Kawashima; Toshifumi Hasama

doi:10.1117/12.482319

25 July 2003 Ultrafast gain and index in semiconductor optical amplifier: theory and experiment

Harm J. S. Dorren, Xuelin Yang, Daan Lenstra, H. de Waardt, Giok-Djan Khoe, Takasi Simoyama, Hiroshi Ishikawa, Hitoshi Kawashima, Toshifumi Hasama

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 4986, Physics and Simulation of Optoelectronic Devices XI; (2003) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.482319
Event: Integrated Optoelectronics Devices, 2003, San Jose, CA, United States

Abstract

We explain how a semiconductor optical amplifier in a Sagnac-interferometric arrangement can be used for switching of 200 fs optical pulses. The switching principles are based on gain and index saturation dynamics on a sub-picosecond timescale. We present a model that accounts for bi-directional propagation of ultrashort optical pulses through the amplifier as well as free-carrier absorption and two-photon absorption. We have also carried out pump and probe experiments to measure the ultrafast refractive index dynamics of a multi-quantum well InGaAsP-InGaAs semiconductor optical amplifier that is operated in the gain regime. The pump and probe pulses are cross-linearly polarized. We observe a phase shift of 200 degrees if the amplifier is pumped with 120 mA of current, but find that the phase shift vanishes if the injection current is increased to 160 mA. Our results indicate a contribution of two-photon absorption to the nonlinear phase shift that opposes the phase shift introduced by the gain. Finally, we observe that the phase shift comes up and disappears within a picosecond.

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Harm J. S. Dorren, Xuelin Yang, Daan Lenstra, H. de Waardt, Giok-Djan Khoe, Takasi Simoyama, Hiroshi Ishikawa, Hitoshi Kawashima, and Toshifumi Hasama "Ultrafast gain and index in semiconductor optical amplifier: theory and experiment", Proc. SPIE 4986, Physics and Simulation of Optoelectronic Devices XI, (25 July 2003); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.482319

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