Integrated extended reach VCSEL interconnect with 8.5 Gbps data modulated forward Raman pump signals

Abstract

We experimentally present thefirst reported integrated cross-modulatedforward Raman pump, with low-cost, power-efficient VCSELs. A single-mode VCSEL is directly modulated with 8.5 Gbps data and transmitted over a 50.7 km SMF-Reach fibre. Exploiting the 6.9 dB flat-gain of a forward Raman pump, an error-free transmission is experimentally achieved. Network efficiency is maximized by modulating the forward Raman pump with 8.5 Gbps data and transferred over the fibre link. To the best of our knowledge, it is the first time a forward Raman pump is utilized for simultaneous data amplification and transmission. Inherent VCSEL frequency chirping leads to an error-flow over a 50.7 km fibre link. With unmodulated forward Raman pump, a transmission penalty of 0.83 dB is incurred. However, modulated forward Raman pump results in a crosstalk penalty of 0.47 dB over the transmission link. This work offers a novel enabling technique for simultaneous network capacity, efficiency and reach optimization for next-generation optical interconnects.