DFB active filter/detector for multichannel FSK optical transmission

In a DFB laser amplifier, used simultaneously as narrow band optical filter and detector in O-FDM systems the increase of the input optical power induces distortion of the filter transfer function. The effect of such a distortion on the receiver sensitivity and dynamic range has been investigated in a 155 Mbit/s FSK direct detection experiment. A two-channel experiment is also reported for the first time. Owing to the effect of interference between the two channels, it has been found that a minimum channel spacing of about 15 GHz is required to maintain the bit error rate below 10^-9.