All-optical clock recovery from 5 Gb/s RZ data using a self-pulsating 1.56 mu m laser diode

All-optical clock extraction from 5 Gb/s RZ data is demonstrated using a two-contact InGaAsP semiconductor self-pulsating laser diode. The saturable absorber region of the device was doped with zinc ions to reduce the carrier lifetime in this region such that strong self pulsations at frequencies up to 5.2 GHz were obtained. Injection of a 10- mu W optical data signal at a wavelength close to one of the Fabry-Perot wavelengths was sufficient to synchronize the self pulsations to the incoming data stream. The measured 3-dB RF electrical bandwidth of the synchronized optical clock signal was 10 Hz, approximately the same as that of the electrical transmitter clock. Initial bit-error-rate measurements for 2/sup 7/-1 5 Gb/s data result in a 0.5-dB receiver sensitivity penalty when using the optical clock signal compared to the transmitter clock.<>