Monolithically integrated MZI comprising band gap shifted SOAs: a new switching scheme for generic all-optical signal processing

The all-optical switch has been one of the most investigated components in OTDM communication networks. Monolithically integrated semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) based interferometric devices are very attractive compared to discrete solutions because of their compactness and bit-rate flexibility. We report on a new switching scheme for generic all-optical signal processing based on monolithically integrated Mach-Zehnder interferometers. The key component of this scheme is the band gap optimized SOA.