THz transfer rate compatible all-optical dual-wavelength switching of ultrafast pulses in highly nonlinear dual-core fibers

Abstract

A complex experimental study of dual-wavelength switching of ultrafast pulses in soft glass fiber with five non-interacting dual-core units was conducted. Two units with different dual-core asymmetries demonstrated distinct switching of 1550 nm and 1700 nm signal pulses governed nonlinearly by 1030 nm control pulses. The differences in switching performance between the two dual-core units indicate the possibility of their utilization for different signal processing tasks. Particularly, the side unit expressed significantly reduced asymmetry, enabling efficient all-optical cross-switching at 10.5 mm fiber length for a 1700 nm signal wavelength. Systematic optimization of the experimental conditions resulted in a nearly linear dependence of dual-core extinction ratio on control pulse energy at both signal wavelengths, with consistent spectral results. Additionally, THz-frequency control pulse trains and their sequential overlap with signal pulses confirmed the potential of this approach for ultrafast signal processing and time-resolved spectroscopy applications.