Abstract
This paper describes the 10-Gb/s, full $C$-band (1530 to 1565 nm) operation of 1.55-$\mu$m electroabsorption modulators (EAMs) designed to eliminate the
cost of a back up light source for a 10-Gb/s dense wavelength division
multiplexing (DWDM) system. We employ InGaAlAs as the material for the EAM
multiple-quantum well (MQW), and design it to achieve a sufficient
extinction ratio and a low chirp $(\alpha)$ parameter over a wide wavelength range. A ridge waveguide buried
in benzocyclobutene (BCB) is also introduced for the EAM waveguide. We
design the width of the ridge waveguide and the thickness of a core layer
that includes an MQW and separate confinement hetero-structure (SCH) layers
by calculating the EAM capacitance. 6-well and 12-well based EAMs are
fabricated to allow us to compare the wavelength dependence of their
static/dynamic extinction ratios (SER/DER), and their small-signal
electrical to optical (E/O) responses. We confirm that the 12-well based EAM
provides a sufficient DER over the $C$ band. We also determine that the wavelength detuning $(\Delta \lambda)$ between an input light wavelength and an EA absorption peak is
100 nm at an input wavelength of 1530 nm, and evaluate the wavelength
dependence of the chirp parameter, and the 40-km SMF transmission
characteristics such as eye diagrams and the power penalty (PP). These
experiments were conducted using a wavelength tunable laser while
maintaining the input power of the EAM at about 13 dBm and changing the
input wavelength over the $C$ band. The EAM was also driven with a constant modulation voltage
swing $(V_{\rm pp})$ of 2.0 V while changing only the EAM bias voltage $(V_{b})$. We also measured the input power dependence of the chirp
parameter. These results show that the 12-well based InGaAlAs EAM is a
promising candidate for an optical modulator that can be used over the $C$ band in a low cost 10-Gb/s optical network system.
© 2010 IEEE
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