Performance analysis of the silicon waveguide-based wavelength converter

The conversion efficiency and noise figure (NF) of the silicon-on-insulator (SOI) waveguide-based wavelength converter are investigated with the coupled equations. The effects of the pump power, the nonlinear absorption and the waveguide length on the conversion efficiency and noise figure are discussed. The conversion efficiency decreases with the increasing pump power and the noise figure is degraded due to the two-photon absorption (TPA) and the TPA-induced free-carrier absorption (FCA) at the higher pump power. With the increasing of the free carrier lifetime, the conversion efficiency will decrease and the noise figure will increase accordingly. The optimal waveguide length depends on the pump power and the free carrier lifetime. In practical applications, the high conversion efficiency and low noise figure can be achieved by choosing suitable parameters of the silicon waveguide.