Robust and tunable 16.375Gb/s dual-band optical OFDM transmissions over directly modulated VCSEL-based 200m OM2 MMFs

Area of Science:

• Optical communications
• Data transmission technologies

Background:

• Directly modulated Vertical-Cavity Surface-Emitting Lasers (DM-VCSELs) are crucial for cost-effective optical communication systems.
• Optical Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OOFDM) offers high spectral efficiency but often requires high-bandwidth lasers.

Purpose of the Study:

• To demonstrate real-time dual-band OOFDM transmission using low-cost DM-VCSELs with limited modulation bandwidth.
• To evaluate the performance robustness and tunability of this system over multimode fiber (MMF) links.

Main Methods:

• Experimental setup utilizing standalone, uncooled DM-VCSELs operating at 2.2GHz modulation bandwidth.
• Transmission of aggregated OOFDM signals with bandwidths 3.8 times higher than specified VCSEL bandwidth over 200m OM2 MMF.
• Intensity modulation and direct detection scheme employed.

Main Results:

• Achieved aggregated 16.375Gb/s transmission over 200m OM2 MMF.
• Demonstrated minimal variation (8%) in transmission capacity across 100m-500m OM2 MMF.
• Showcased a 10% capacity variation over a 1GHz passband carrier frequency detuning range.

Conclusions:

• Dual-band OOFDM adaptability provides excellent performance robustness and frequency tunability.
• This approach significantly relaxes VCSEL modulation bandwidth requirements for cost-sensitive applications like data centers.
• Enables high-capacity optical communication using affordable, lower-bandwidth VCSELs.