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Continuously tunable 1 byte delay in coupled-resonator optical waveguides

2008; Optica Publishing Group; Volume: 33; Issue: 20 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1364/ol.33.002389

1539-4794

Andrea Melloni, Francesco Morichetti, C. Ferrari, M. Martinelli,

Advanced Fiber Laser Technologies

A reconfigurable coupled-resonator optical waveguide made of a few directly coupled ring resonators is employed to control the delay of data streams modulated at tens of gigabits per second. A delay of 8 bit lengths (1 optical byte) with a small pulse broadening and 1 dB/bit fractional loss is achieved by using only eight rings. The limiting role of waveguide loss and spurious backreflections is experimentally investigated. The high storage efficiency (1 bit/ring) of the device enables an easy, reliable, hitless, and relatively low-power-consuming management of the delay. A higher storage efficiency is demonstrated to be associated to an unavoidable higher pulse distortion.