Ultrashort optical pulse polarization rotator based on azimuth angle rotation in semiconductor optical amplifier

For the first time, a dynamic model is used to design all-optical polarization rotator for ultrashort pulse in semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA). When 200 fs probe and pump pulses co-propagate in SOA, the azimuth angle of probe polarization is rotated by pump energy due to SOA nonlinearities. As a result of azimuth angle rotation (AAR) phenomenon, the state of polarization (SOP) of probe pulse also rotates. In addition to the pump energy, AAR also depends on the input probe pulse characteristics and the SOA bias current. The input probe characteristics include its input energy level, input Stokes vector, and input degree of polarization. The results of our research indicate that the output probe azimuth angle can be rotated up to 113 deg by the mentioned factors. Consequently, the probe SOP can be changed from the quasihorizontal state to the quasivertical state. (C) 2020 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE)