Wavelength exchange in a highly nonlinear dispersion-shifted fiber: Theory and experiments

Abstract

Theory shows that with a suitable wavelength arrangement of two strong pumps and two signals with respect to the zero-dispersion wavelength of a fiber, simultaneous wavelength exchange between two signals can be realized by four-wave mixing in the fiber. We have experimentally demonstrated near-complete wavelength exchange between two signals at 1573.4 nm and 1579.9 nm with two 0.24-W pumps in a highly nonlinear dispersion-shifted fiber. We also have evaluated the bit-error-rate performance of the wavelength-exchanged signal, and obtained a power penalty of less than 1 dB for a 10-Gb/s signal.