All-optical AND, NOR, and XNOR logic gates using semiconductor optical amplifiers-based Mach-Zehnder interferometer followed by a delayed interferometer

The feasibility of increasing quality factor (QF) of all-optical AND, NOR, and XNOR logic gates based on semiconductor optical amplifiers-assisted Mach-Zehnder interferometer (SOAs-MZI) followed by a delay interferometer (DI) is numerically investigated at a data rate of 160 Gb/s. The performance of the considered logic gates using SOAs-MZI in the presence and absence of the DI is analyzed and evaluated through examining the variation of QF against the key operational parameters of the input pulse and SOAs, including the effects of the amplified spontaneous emission and operating temperature to obtain more realistic results. The achieved results indicate that placing a DI in series after the SOAs-MZI renders higher QF than without placing it.