FM response of InGaAsP buried heterostructure distributed feedback lasers and their applications in incoherent FSK systems

Measurements are reported of the frequency modulation (FM) response of InGaAsP buried heterostructure distributed feedback (DFB) lasers and the system performance of a 1.7-Gb/s and 622-Mb/s incoherent frequency-shift-keyingn (FSK) system using these lasers. The measured lasers include 1.55- mu m conventional DFB lasers and quarter-wave shifted DFB lasers. The thermal dips in the FM response of quarter-wave shifted DFB lasers usually occur at the lower frequencies, compared with that of conventional (250- mu m-long) DFB lasers. A receiver sensitivity of -32.5 dBm (-39.5 dBm) for a 1.7-GB/s (622-Mb/s) incoherent frequency-shift-keying (FSK) system was achieved using a quarter-wave shifted DFB laser.<>