LONG HAUL TRANSMISSION USING ELECTRO-ABSORPTION MODULATORS

摘要

In this paper, we reported the successful error-free transmission of 10 Gbps (OC-192) NRZ data over approximately 1,000 km of standard single-mode-fiber (SSMF) using an electro-absorption modulator. This work demonstrates that the EAMs are ready and suitable for being used in long-haul and even ultra-long-haul transmission systems. Unlike the Lithium Niobate MZMs that can be designed and manufactured chirp-free, EAMs introduce finite frequency chirp to the light pulses, which, nevertheless, can be managed and tolerated in the transmission links. Our work reported here demonstrates that the chirp-dispersion interaction can be mitigated by optimizing the dispersion map along the transmission link, and also employing pre-chirping and post-dispersion compensation. Besides the main application as data modulators, EAMs can also be used in lightwave transmission systems for optical time domain demultiplexing in the high data rate 40 Gbps and above. It can also be used to directly generate RZ data pulses, greatly simplifying the transmitter architecture and lowering the terminal cost. Therefore, electro-absorption modulators will be widely used in the next generation DWDM transmission systems.