Abstract

Phase sensitive amplification (PSA) is a key function towards all optical signal processing since it can selectively process the two complex quadratures of the optical field used to encode information. Moreover it enables signal regeneration with very low noise. Based on parametric processes in χ(3) media, PSA is a consequence of Four Wave Mixing (FWM) when all four involved waves are injected at the input. It can be interpreted as the nonlinear interference of idler photons (ω₄) with signal (ω₃) and pump photons (ω₁, ω₂). Analytic theory predicts the amplitude gain to be sinusoidal [1] on the input relative phase ∆Φ = Φ₁ + Φ₂ − Φ₃ − Φ₄. It is hence possible to tune the amplification of the signal by changing the input phase.

© 2015 IEEE