Transform-limited 14 ps optical pulse generation with 15 GHz repetition rate by InGaAsP electroabsorption modulator

A 15 GHz optical pulse train with time-bandwidth product of 0.32 for soliton transmission was generated by a sinusoidally driven InGaAsP electroabsorption modulator, for the first time. By using the pulse compression effect caused by the nonlinear attenuation response to the applied voltage, a transform-limited optical pulse train with a width of 14 ps and a spectral width of 23 GHz was successfully generated just using sinusoidal modulation, without using any electrical and optical resonators.