Investigation of a simultaneous multifunctional photonic logic gate based on bidirectional FWM

We demonstrate a multi-functional photonic logic gate for RZ-PolSK signals based on four wave mixing (FWM) in highly nonlinear fiber (HNLF). Bidirectional operation with one spool of HNLF is implemented numerically at 40 Gb/s. The basic logic arithmetics, such as XOR, AB¯,A¯B, XNOR, AND, NOR, and complex logic functions such as half-subtracter, half-adder, comparator and decoder are simultaneously realized by adjusting the polarization controllers. This novel structure is low-cost and rather flexible. Proper logic results, clear waveforms and high Q factors of eye diagrams are presented. Simulation analysis shows that bit error-free operation for the logic gate can be obtained when the wavelength separation is from −7 to 6 nm for two input signals. The impact of the input power on the Q factor is also investigated. Due to the femoto-second response time of Kerr-effect in HNLF we used in the scheme, the logic gate has great potential in future ultra-high speed optical transmission systems.