Analog Characterization of Low-Voltage MQW Traveling-Wave Electroabsorption Modulators

In this paper, high-speed traveling-wave electroabsorption modulators (TW-EAMs) with strain-compensated InGaAsP multiple quantum wells as the absorption region for analog optical links have been developed. A record-high slope efficiency of 4/V, which is equivalent to a Mach–Zehnder modulator with a of 0.37 V and a high extinction ratio of 30 dB/V have been measured. A detailed study of the nonlinearity and the spurious-free dynamic range (SFDR) is presented. By optimizing the bias voltage and the input optical power, the SFDR can be improved by 10–30 dB. After minimizing the third-order distortion, an SFDR as high as 128 dB Hz4 5 is achieved at 10 GHz. A simple link measurement was made using this EAM and an erbium-doped fiber amplifier and a 50terminated photodetector. At 10 GHz, a link gain of 1 dB is achieved at a detected photocurrent of 7.6 mA with higher gains at lower frequencies. The dependence of link gains on bias voltage, input optical, and radio frequency powers are investigated in detail.