Programmable Transfer Function Optical-DAC Using an InP Segmented Mach-Zehnder Modulator

A programmable InP-based Tbit optical-DAC transmitter is discussed. Through electro-optic co-design and simulation of the transmitter’s components, the performance is evaluated. The comparison with a traditional DAC plus linear driver approach is presented, with a significant advantage of the optical DAC for complex modulation schemes. Low power (1.3 pJ/bit) transmission of a 56 Gbaud dual-polarization probabilistically-shaped 256-QAM signal is shown.