Dependence of bit error rate performance on extinction ratio of a Ti:LiNbO3 intensity modulator

Author

Delavaux, J.-M.P. ; Kuo, C.Y. ; Nguyen, Troy V. ; Smith, R.W.

Author_Institution

AT&T Bell Laboratories, Allentown, USA

Volume

22

Issue

21

fYear

1986

Firstpage

1139

Lastpage

1141

Abstract

We report bit error rate (BER) measurements, as a function of the extinction ratio, for an optical fibre transmission experiment in which a Ti: LiNbO3 directional coupler was used to externally modulate a 1.3 Â¿m multilongitudinal-mode laser. We derive the experimental dependence of the power penalty at the receiver against extinction ratio at 180 and 417 Mbit/s NRZ data rates. We also show that a simple BER probabilistic calculation provides good agreement with our experimental data. Finally, we consider the use of polarisation-maintaining fibre as a means of ensuring a stable input polarisation.

Keywords

digital communication systems; directional couplers; electro-optical devices; error statistics; lithium compounds; optical communication equipment; optical couplers; optical fibres; optical links; optical modulation; titanium; 1.4 micron wavelength; 180 Mbit/s; 417 Mbit/s; BER probabilistic calculation; LiNbO3:Ti; NRZ data rates; bit error rate performance; directional coupler; electro-optical devices; extinction ratio; intensity modulator; multilongitudinal-mode laser; optical fibre transmission; polarisation-maintaining fibre; power penalty; stable input polarisation;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Electronics Letters

Publisher

iet

ISSN

0013-5194

Type

jour

DOI

10.1049/el:19860781

Filename

4256996