TFLN MZMs and Next-Gen DACs: Enabling Beyond 400 Gbps IMDD O-Band and C-Band Transmission

As internet traffic demand continues to increase, high-speed electro-optic modulators and high-bandwidth RF components are needed stretch intensity modulation direct detection (IMDD) systems their limits. In this study, we experimentally demonstrate the transmission performance using next generation of digital-to-analog converters (DAC) thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN) modulators. C-band, transmit 172 Gbaud PAM6 180 PAM8 over 120 m SSMF under 6.7% overhead hard-decision forward error correction (HD-FEC) 20% soft-decision (SD)-FEC thresholds, which respectively correspond net 400 450 Gbps. We also first Gbps 10 km in O-band (1310 nm) probabilistically shaped (PS)-PAM8 SD-FEC BER threshold. Our results indicate that TFLN platform has potential support even higher data rates with development components.