Separate Absorption and Modulation Mach-Zehnder Wavelength Converter

A monolithic separate absorption and moduation region (SAM) wavelength converter is demonstrated. The transmitter consists of a sampled-grating DBR (SGDBR) laser and a series-push-pull Mach-Zehnder modulator. The preamplified receiver is composed of a flared semiconductor optical amplifier and a quantum-well pin photodetector. Integrated resistors and capacitors are used to minimize microwave losses and remove the need for external bias tees. The design, fabrication, and operation of this photonic integrated circuit is presented. Small-signal response measurements show a device bandwidth in excess of 20 GHz. Operation at 40 Gbps with NRZ data shows less than a 2.5-dB power penalty across the 32-nm laser tuning range with no additional power penalty for conversion to the input wavelength.