Transmission performance impairment due to degradation of optical spectrum in 1.55 ?m DFB laser

The dynamic optical spectrum and optical transmission characteristics of a 1.55 ?m conventional distributed feedback (DFB) laser with a side mode were analysed. The laser used in the experiment came to operate in two modes although initially it had operated in single-mode. When this laser was directly modulated by setting the bias current around the threshold, the mode switching between a main mode and a side mode was observed to be similar to mode partitioning in Fabry-Perot (FP) lasers. The mode switching affects considerably the bit error rate performance of 113 km single-mode fibre transmission at 140 Mbit/s.     

Stability of two modes in DFB laser diode under high data rate modulation

Using a DFB-LD with two longitudinal modes in the 1.55 ?m region, the mode stability was examined experimentally. It is found that these modes are very stable under direct modulation at least up to around 300 Mbit/s and there is no power penalty due to mode partition noise in 97 km single-mode-fibre transmission at 280 Mbit/s.     

Mode stability of a two-wavelength Fabry-Perot/distributed-feedbacklaser

A theory based on a Fokker-Planck equation has been developed to analyze the two-mode operation of a Fabry-Perot/distributed-feedback (FP/DFB) laser. Simultaneous oscillation of the DFB mode and the FP mode near the gain peak with negligible mode power fluctuation can be achieved if the DFB mode is detuned sufficiently from the gain peak. Calculated results for the design of stable two-wavelength lasers are presented     

Mode analysis of DFB SE lasers

This paper presents theoretical results on mode characteristics of surface-emitting (SE) lasers utilizing an active second-order grating section. Based on a coupled-mode approach, longitudinal modes and the associated space-harmonic transverse modes are calculated via a numerical technique. From these, the lasing-mode spectrum, near- and far-field patterns of the radiation mode, and the surface-emission power efficiency are obtained. Effects of the substrate reflector and the grating parameters are also investigated. Finally, comparisons are made with conventional, edge-emitting DFB lasers. The results indicate that with a suitable choice of structural parameter values, DFB SE lasers can be made to possess both the spectral discrimination of the conventional DFB lasers and the advantages of SE lasers at the same time and also that the second lowest longitudinal mode may be preferred over the fundamental longitudinal mode for many applications due to its symmetric field distribution     

Nonlinear dynamics in directly modulated multiple-quantum-welllaser diodes

A theoretical and experimental analysis of the nonlinear dynamics of Fabry-Perot (FP) and distributed feedback (DFB) multiple-quantum-well (MQW) laser diodes is presented. The analysis is performed under single-tone and two-tone direct modulation. In the FP laser, we observe period doubling and in the DFB laser both period doubling and period tripling are identified. Period doubling is found over a wide range of modulation frequencies in both lasers. The reason for this wide modulation frequency range is attributed to the large relaxation frequencies found in MQW laser diodes. The spontaneous emission factor is measured for both FP and DFB lasers. The dependencies of period doubling on output power and RF input power level are also analyzed. The nonlinear dynamics of the laser are found to be enhanced when modulated under two-tone modulation. Numerical simulations carried out show good agreement with the measured results     

Electrically tunable dual-wavelength switching in a mutually injection-locked erbium-doped fiber ring laser and distributed-feedback laser diode

Wavelength switching in a mutually injection-locked erbium-doped fiber ring laser and distributed-feedback laser diode (DFBLD) is experimentally demonstrated. By adjusting the power and the polarization state of injected light, three stable oscillation regimes were observed: Fabry-Pe/spl acute/rot (FP) mode oscillation, main distributed-feedback (DFB) mode oscillation, and dual-wavelength oscillation. Wavelength switching of 0.8 nm from one of the FP oscillation modes to the main DFB mode of the DFBLD is accomplished when the bias current to the DFBLD is varied from 9 to 14 mA. We also show that these wavelengths can be tuned as much as 2.48 nm when the temperature of the DFBLD is changed by 20/spl deg/C.     

Distributed feedback InGaAsP/InP lasers with window region emitting at 1.5 µm range

Distributed feedback (DFB) InGaAsP/InP lasers with a window region formed at an end of the corrugated DFB region were made in order to overcome the problems inherent in the previous structures of DFB lasers with cleaved, sawed, etched, or AR-coated facets, or with an unexcited corrugation region. The window structure DFB lasers showed linear current versus output (I-L) curves, in contrast to those with a hysteresis or a kink appearing in a DFB laser with an unexcited region. Suppression of Fabry-Perot (F-P) resonances due to the two facets were sufficient enough to keep a single longitudinal mode property by DFB up to high excitation level. CW operation up to 65°C was achieved at the 1.5 μm wavelength range. Axial modes concerning the corrugated resonator were measured at about the threshold current. A stop band of a DFB laser was clearly observed with two dominant modes and much smaller submodes, which almost agreed with the axial modes predicted from a basic DFB theory.     

Analysis and design of combined distributed-feedback/Fabry-Perotstructures for surface-emitting semiconductor lasers

We propose combined distributed-feedback/Fabry-Perot (DFB/FP) structures for surface-emitting semiconductor lasers. The analysis is based on coupled-wave equations modified for surface-emitting lasers. The proposed structures, which exhibit enhanced resonance due to a matching between the gain and field distributions resulting in a reduced threshold compared with simple FP structures, are formed by placing the DFB structure between two DBR mirrors of an FP resonant cavity and introducing phase layers between the DFB region and the mirrors. It was found that the periodic-gain structures are a special case of the combined DFB/FP structures in which the index coupling effect is assumed to be negligible due to a small fill factor or a small refractive-index difference. The effect of complex (gain and index) coupling on the design and the threshold characteristics of the structures is clearly illustrated. Some important design considerations that were neglected in the previous papers are addressed     

FSK heterodyne transmission experiments at 560 Mbit/s and 1 Gbit/s

Optical frequency-shift-keying (FSK) signals are obtained from directly modulated distributed feedback (DFB) semiconductor lasers. Experimental studies of the direct frequency modulation (FM) characteristics of the DFB lasers show a nonuniform FM response due to the competing effects of thermal modulation of the laser active region and carrier density modulation. Equalization of the signal current to the laser is employed to produce a flat FM response from 30 kHz to 1 GHz. Optical FSK transmission and heterodyne detection experiments at 560-Mbit/s and 1-Gbit/s are conducted at a wavelength of 1497 nm. Receiver sensitivities of -39 dBm at 560 Mbit/s and -37 dBm at 1 Gbit/s are obtained. Transmission through 100 km of single-mode fiber at 1 Gbit/s is achieved with no degradation in receiver sensitivity.     

Gain margin analysis of distributed feedback lasers for bothtransverse electric and magnetic modes

A theoretical analysis of the gain margin with both transverse electric (TE) and transverse magnetic (TM) modes in distributed feedback (DFB) lasers of second-order gratings and various structural parameters is presented. Though the dominant mode is usually a TE mode, one of the TM modes often becomes the secondary mode with the second lowest threshold and seriously affects the single-mode characteristics of DFB lasers. To design DFB lasers with a large gain margin, proper amounts of facet reflectivity for both polarizations and control of the spatial phase of the grating at the facet are required     

Elusive bit-error-rate floors resulting from transient partitioningin 1.5-μm DFB lasers

Some 1.5-μm distributed feedback (DFB) lasers modulated at 1.7 Gb/s exhibit bit-error rate (BER) floors for certain fiber lengths, and hence these floors are difficult to detect. For example, a laser that does not exhibit a BER floor for 43 km of fiber may exhibit a BER floor after only 27 km. It is shown that the source of such BER floors is a narrow pulse resulting from transient partitioning between the DFB TE and TM modes. The narrow TM pulses cause false bits if the fiber delay between the modes positions the TM energy within a zero time slot. It is shown that for the 11 lasers studied, TM partitioning floors rarely occur in lasers with adequate threshold gain difference. When the duration of the TM partitioning is only a small fraction of a bit period, the BER floor is effectively removed using a polarized film in the transmission path to suppress the TM mode. Similarly, increased suppression of the TM mode has been achieved by changing the laser structure to reduce the TM mode gain     

1 Gbit/s transmission experiment over 101 km of single-mode fibre using a 1.55 ?m ridge guide C3 laser

Using a cleaved-coupled-cavity (C3) ridge guide laser which oscillates in a single longitudinal mode at 1.55 ?m wavelength, we report the first lightwave transmission experiment exploying single-frequency lasers at speeds above 500 Mbit/s. We have achieved digital transmission with a bit-error rate of 2 × 10?10 at 1.0 Gbit/s over 101 km of single-mode fibre. This represents a record for the length of unrepeatered optical transmission for bit rates greater than 500 Mbit/s. Evidence for an error-rate floor, presumably due to residual partition noise, is observed. No such floor was observed in an 84 km?1 Gbit/s experiment using the same C3 laser.     

DFB laser spectra obtained by low-frequency current dither

The temporal behavior of the spectra of distributed-feedback (DFB) lasers is studied under high-bit-rate (2 Gb/s) modulation. The optical spectra are obtained by dithering the off-state laser bias current with a low-frequency (1 kHz) low-amplitude (2 mA) current. It is found that some lasers have side modes that emit only during the first ~125 ps of the pulse. During this short time interval, the intensity of the side mode emission is at least 10 dB stronger than that obtained from time averaged spectra. This technique is useful in understanding the high-speed dynamics of rapidly modulated DFB spectra     

Mode partition in semiconductor lasers with optical feedback

The authors point out that random noise processes induce mode partition fluctuations in semiconductor lasers. Mode partition depends on laser parameters and modulation current. However, external optical feedback can also increase mode partition noise. Here, a numerical solution of multimode noise-driven rate equations with time-delayed terms is utilized to investigate mode partition in semiconductor lasers with reflecting feedback. Photon statistics of the main and side modes in semiconductor lasers under both CW operation and dynamic operation are considered. Probability-density curves for the main and side modes are shown. The feedback-induced change of photon statistics of the main and side modes is clearly seen. Numerical results indicate that, if the laser used is exposed to reflections, a more stringent mode discrimination requirement for suppressing the buildup of laser-cavity longitudinal side modes may result. If mode discrimination is insufficient for avoiding the excitation of side modes, the feedback-induced power penalty depends on the fiber dispersion     

Effect of p-doping on the temperature dependence of differentialgain in FP and DFB 1.3-μm InGaAsP-InP multiple-quantum-well lasers

The temperature dependence of differential gain dG/dn for 1.3-μm InGaAsP-InP FP and DFB lasers with two profiles of p-doping was obtained from RIN measurements within the temperature range of 25°C-65°C. Experiments showed that the change of the active region doping level from 3·10¹⁷ cm^-3 to 3·10¹⁸ cm^-3 leads to a 50% increase of the differential gain for FP lasers at 25°C. Heavily doped devices also exhibit more rapid reduction of the differential gain with increasing temperature. The effect of active region doping on the energy separation between the electron Fermi level and electronic states coupled into the laser mode explains the observations. The temperature dependence of differential gain for DFB devices strongly depends on the detuning of the lasing wavelength from the gain peak     

Uni- and bidirectional 4λ×560 Mb/s transmissionsystems using WDM devices based on wavelength-selective fusedsingle-mode fiber couplers

Four-wavelength-channel wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) lab transmission system experiments with buried heterostructure (BH) lasers at 1200-, 1240-, 1280-, and 1320-nm wavelengths, all-fiber WDM devices, and 20-km single-mode link fiber at a 560-Mb/s bit rate demonstrated that unidirectional and bidirectional WDM transmission systems could be operated successfully by using all-fiber 4λ multiplexing, 4λ demultiplexing, or 4λ multiplexing/demultiplexing devices with a low insertion loss per wavelength channel (2.1-4.7 dB), enough optical far-end crosstalk attenuation (18-37 dB), and high optical near-end crosstalk attenuation (43-49 dB). It is concluded that the four-wavelength-channel WDM lab transmission system at 560 Mb/s mainly used as a test bed is not representative of future unidirectional trunk WDM systems. Such systems favor distributed feedback (DFB) lasers in the 1500-1560-nm wavelength range where fiber attenuation is lower than in the 1200-1320 nm wavelength range and where 1500-nm DFB lasers with a smaller linewidth do not limit the repeater distance as much because of mode partition noise     

Deep sea trial of 1.55 μm optical fibre submarine cable system

The first 6000 m deep sea trial of a 1.55 μm optical fibre submarine cable system was successfully conducted in the Pacific Ocean, near Torishima Island, in January 1988. By using 1.55 μm loss-minimised single-mode fibre cables and submerged fully monolithic Si-IC regenerators with DFB lasers, excellent transmission performances at 140, 280 and 565 Mbit/s were obtained through 150 km repeater spacings, respectively     

TM mode suppression property of DFB lasers with a narrow striperegion

The TM-mode suppressibility of DFB lasers with a narrow stripe region is investigated. A waveguide is designed to produce different phase shifts between the TE and TM modes. A threshold gain difference between the TE and TM modes is introduced by a phase shift difference of both modes. A TM and side mode suppression ratio of more than 40 dB is obtained under 1.8-Gb/s NRZ pseudorandom pulse modulation     

Gigahertz self-pulsation in 1.5 μm wavelength multisection DFBlasers

Self-pulsation in InGaAsP/InP multisection distributed feedback (DFB) lasers was generated reproducibly by adjusting appropriate injection conditions. Frequencies of up to some gigahertz were achieved. It was demonstrated that-in contrast to Fabry-Perot (FP) elements-no selective treatment of one section is required for creating the self-pulsation. It is concluded that the self-pulsation in DFB elements is of a different type than in FP elements