WAVELENGTH CONVERTER

摘要

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an improved wavelength converter including at least two semiconductor optical amplifiers. SOLUTION: This is a wavelength converter for moving data carried by an incident pump wave beam with wavelength λp to a probe wave with wavelength λs. This device includes two semiconductor optical amplifiers 102 or the like and a directional coupling means 114 or the like for dividing the incident pump wave beam into secondary pump wave beams, and injecting each secondary pump wave beam into each optical amplifier. The optical amplifiers are connected in series on the optical path of the probe wave so that each optical amplifier can modulate the probe wave in intensity by the corresponding secondary pump wave beam by a cross-over gain-saturation phenomenon.