[3, 4], PA [5], 2R and 3R optical regeneration [6–9], wavelength conversion
[10–12], optical buffering and delay [13], demultiplexing [14] and others. Phase-
matched processes, howe ver, are probably best represented by optical parame tric
signal processing techniques that have had a long and diversified history spanning
more than two decades [24–31]. In the simplest configuration, efficient amplifica-
tion is achieved by combining an optical pump and a signal that meet the phase-
matching condition in a nonlinear waveguide [26]. A conventional parametric
amplifier (PA) uses a single pump whose wavelength lies in the anomalous
dispersion regime. Its operation can be physically described as degenerate four-
photon mixing (FPM): two-pump photons are ...