All-fiber optical nonreciprocity based on parity-time-symmetric Fabry-Perot resonators

Abstract

Nonreciprocal light transmission in an all-fiber platform is critical in modern optical communication systems, which can avoid the packaging and integration process required in current devices based on magneto-optical or nonlinear materials. Here we propose and demonstrate an all-fiber device with remotely tunable isolation ratio and switchable isolation direction by constructing two mutually coupled Fabry-Perot (FP) resonators with identical geometry and balanced gain and loss. By controlling the pumping power, strong optical nonreciprocity is achieved due to gain saturation nonlinearity that is enhanced by the broken parity-time symmetry. Nonreciprocal light transmission with an isolation ratio of 8.58 dB at 1550 nm and an insertion loss of 2.5 dB is demonstrated. The isolation bandwidth is 125 MHz, which is determined by the bandwidths of the two coupled FP resonators. The proposed approach provides an all-fiber solution for a remotely tunable and optically controlled isolator, which may find applications in software-defined optical networks.