InP Monolithically Integrated Transmitters based on High Speed Directly Modulated DFB Lasers

In this paper we summarize results concerning high-speed integrated multi-wavelength transmitters fabricated using a generic InP integration platform. The photonic integrated circuits (PICs) include tunable directly modulated DFB lasers emitting in the C-band, monitoring photodetectors, MMI couplers and output spot size converters. The directly modulated lasers, designed in order to fit within a 100 GHz grid, show a maximum 3-dB small signal bandwidth of 21 GHz and a tunability range of about 4 nm. In particular, we report an 8-channel transmitter showing operation up to 30 Gb/s per channel (for 200+ Gb/s applications) and a 4-channel transmitter capable of operating up to 34 Gb/s per channel (for 100+ Gb/s applications). Error free operation (bit error rates <10−9) is achieved for all the channels in all the cases.