40-GHz Optical-Pulse Generation based on Electroabsorption Modulator driven by low-power MMIC

Abstract : This paper reports on the design of an optical-pulse source at a 40-Gb/s repetition rate integrating a single electro-absorption modulator (EAM) sinusoïdally driven by a 40-GHz low-power MMIC driver specifically designed to match the electro-optical response of the EAM. The 40-GHz MMIC HEMT driver has been designed to optimize the required control voltage of the InP-based MQW-EAM in order to generate optical pulses with a narrow pulse width and high extinction ratio from a very-low-power drive.