10×10 Gbs directly modulated DFB laser array based on the REC technique

Abstract

We proposed and experimentally demonstrated a directly modulated distributed feedback (DFB) laser array with a transmission rate of 100 Gbps (10channels×10Gbps). The grating design is based on the reconstruction equivalent chirp (REC) technique, which enables precise control of the channel wavelength spacing to 100 GHz, as specified in the ITU-DWDM standard. DFB laser arrays incorporating the REC technique demonstrate excellent consistency performance, with a side-mode suppression ratio exceeding 48 dB, threshold current of approximately 20 mA, and modulation bandwidth of greater than 13 GHz at a bias current of 100 mA. We evaluated the laser’s performance by loading a 10 Gbps nonreturn-to-zero signal onto the laser using direct modulation and transmitting it over a 10 km single-mode fiber. Based on our experimental results, the proposed DFB laser array is promising to be utilized in the next generation of low-cost, 100 Gbps DWDM communication systems.