Abstract

We experimentally demonstrate greater than C-band coherent transmission over a bandwidth of 9.6-THz using simple back-ward-pumped bismuth-doped fibre amplifiers in the O-band. The signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of coherent dense wavelength-division-multiplexed signals is evaluated after one and three 45-km spans of installed fibre at 30 and 40 GBd as a function of wavelength. The penalty at the zero-dispersion wavelength from nonlinear noise is measured and in the broadband transmission regime, the penalty is insignificant. The measured SNR is converted to achievable information rate, and the impact of the number of equaliser taps is evaluated, showing that chromatic dispersion compensation is not needed, demonstrating the potential for energy savings in receiver-side signal processing.