Abstract

We report on a multifunctional active demultiplexer for optical frequency combs. The proposed technique, based on injection locking, combines the functionality of a tunable demultiplexer, gain equalizer and an optical amplifer, all in one device. Validation of the concept is experimentally demonstrated through simultaneous demultiplexing and amplifcation of combs with various free spectral ranges (2.5 to 15 GHz), achieving an adjacent channel suppression ratio > 35 dB and an output power of 7.5 dBm. The functionality of the demultiplexer is extended to that of a gain equalizer, by fltering comb tones with powers 10 dB below the spectral peak, whilst maintaining a suppression ratio > 30 dB and a constant output power. This feature increases the number of comb lines suited for data modulation (i.e. usable lines), by a factor of ~1.7. Finally, we test the stability of such a demultiplexer, by measuring the frequency drift, beat tone power variations and phase correlation between demultiplexed tones.