Experimental investigation of photonic microwave switching based on XGM in a SOA

The photonic microwave switching performances based on the cross gain modulation (XGM) effect in a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) are experimentally investigated. The influences of the key parameters of the system, such as the optical power of the pump and probe signals, the SOA bias current and the modulation depth are experimentally studied and analyzed to optimize the system performance. Important performances of the linearity, the dynamic range and the polarization sensitivity of the photonic microwave switching system are analyzed and discussed. The channel uniformities are also investigated according to the requirements of the photonic microwave switching applications.