High-speed opto-electronic components for digital and analog RF systems

Summary form only given. Opto-electronic devices and subsystems for optical communication systems and next generation networks are presented. The key enabling devices for today´s WDM systems include quantum-well distributed feedback (DFB) lasers, wavelength tunable Bragg reflector lasers, lasers integrated with electro-absorption modulators, broadband PIN photodiodes, and high-receiver-sensitivity avalanche photodetectors. State-of-the-art optical transceivers for 80 km and 640 km fiber transmission at 10 Gb/s and 2.5 Gb/s data rates, respectively, utilize semiconductor DFB lasers with monolithically integrated modulators for low component manufacturing costs. The simplicity of using direct modulation of semiconductor laser has also been explored using optical injection locking. We present recent results of monolithic injection locked semiconductor lasers with 20 to 40 GHz modulation speed for analog RF photonic links with potential application in CATV distributions.