A compact optical sampling measurement system using mode-locked laser-diode modules

A compact optical sampling measurement system with a temporal resolution of 2 ps has been developed. External-cavity mode-locked laser-diode modules, which directly generate coherent 2-ps optical pulses, were used as the optical sampling pulse sources. Real-time measurement of the recovery dynamics in semiconductor saturable absorber devices and 160-Gbit/s pseudorandom return-to-zero optical signals with this system has been demonstrated.