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Quantum dot mode-locked frequency comb with ultra-stable 25.5 GHz spacing between 20 °C and 120 °C

Chen, S; Pan, S; Huang, J; Zhou, Z; Liu, Z; Ponnampalam, L; Liu, Z; ... Lo, M-C; + view all (2020) Quantum dot mode-locked frequency comb with ultra-stable 25.5 GHz spacing between 20 °C and 120 °C. Photonics Research , 8 (12) pp. 1937-1942. 10.1364/prj.399957. Green open access

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Abstract

Semiconductor mode-locked lasers (MLLs) are promising frequency comb sources for dense wavelength-division-multiplexing (DWDM) data communications. Practical data communication requires a frequency-stable comb source in a temperature-varying environment and a minimum tone spacing of 25 GHz to support high-speed DWDM transmissions. To the best of our knowledge, however, to date, there have been no demonstrations of comb sources that simultaneously offer a high repetition rate and stable mode spacing over an ultrawide temperature range. Here, we report a frequency comb source based on a quantum dot (QD) MLL that generates a frequency comb with stable mode spacing over an ultrabroad temperature range of 20–120°C. The two-section passively mode-locked InAs QD MLL comb source produces an ultra-stable fundamental repetition rate of 25.5 GHz (corresponding to a 25.5 GHz spacing between adjacent tones in the frequency domain) with a variation of 0.07 GHz in the tone spacing over the tested temperature range. By keeping the saturable absorber reversely biased at −2 V , stable mode-locking over the whole temperature range can be achieved by tuning the current of the gain section only, providing easy control of the device. At an elevated temperature of 100°C, the device shows a 6 dB comb bandwidth of 4.81 nm and 31 tones with >36 dB optical signal-to-noise ratio. The corresponding relative intensity noise, averaged between 0.5 GHz and 10 GHz, is −146 dBc/Hz . Our results show the viability of the InAs QD MLLs as ultra-stable, uncooled frequency comb sources for low-cost, large-bandwidth, and low-energy-consumption optical data communications.

Type: Article
Title: Quantum dot mode-locked frequency comb with ultra-stable 25.5 GHz spacing between 20 °C and 120 °C
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1364/prj.399957
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1364/PRJ.399957
Language: English
Additional information: Published by The Optical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science > Dept of Electronic and Electrical Eng
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10115418
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