Publisher’s Note: This paper, originally published on 6 September 2019, was replaced with a corrected version on 10 October 2019. If you downloaded the original PDF but are unable to access the revision, please contact SPIE Digital Library Customer Service for assistance.
We report on a monolithic indium phosphide photonic integrated transmitter capable of generating high-speed return-tozero differential phase shift keying (RZ-DPSK) data streams for space optical communications as high as 5 Gbps. The integrated transmitter includes a sampled grating distributed Bragg reflector laser continuously tunable over 30 nm in the C-band, a semiconductor optical amplifier for amplification, a Mach-Zehnder modulator for encoding phase-shift-keying data, and electro-absorption modulator for return-to-zero pulse carving. The transmitter is situated in a custom electronics test bed for biasing various PIC sections and driving the modulators. Furthermore, this transmitter can also be utilized for 10 Gbps DPSK or NRZ-OOK.
We present results of an indium phosphide (InP) monolithic photonic integrated circuit (PIC) transmitter suitable for space-optical communications up to 10 Gbps for NRZ-OOK and DPSK modulation and up to 5 Gbps RZ-DPSK modulation. The PIC includes an SG-DBR laser tunable across the entire telecommunications C-Band, a semi-conductor optical amplifier (SOA), a Mach-Zehnder modulator (MZM) for efficient encoding of phase information, and an electroabsorption modulator (EAM) which serves as an RZ pulse carver. The transmitter PIC is integrated in a testbed with a custom board that provides biasing and driving electronics. The commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) differential driver generates an estimated 4.5-5 Vpp differential modulation voltage for the dual drive MZM. An identical driver was used for the EAM 50% RZ pulse carver but only a single output was used with the other output terminated with a 50Ω load. The SOA and laser gain sections were biased at 90 mA each. Clear eye openings were achieved for all modulation formats.
NASA is working with US industry and academia to develop Photonic Integrated Circuits (PICs) for: (1) Sensors (2) Analog RF applications (3) Computing and free space communications. The PICs provide reduced size, weight, and power that is critical for space-based systems. We describe recent breakthrough 3D monolithic integration of photonic structures, particularly high-speed graphene-silicon devices on CMOS electronics to create CMOS-compatible highbandwidth transceivers for ultra-low power Terabit-scale optical communications. An integrated graphene electro-optic modulator has been demonstrated with a bandwidth of 30 GHz. Graphene microring modulators are especially attractive for dense wavelength division multiplexed (DWDM) systems. For space-based optical communication and ranging we have demonstrated generating a variable number of channels from a single laser using breadboard components, using a single-sideband carrier-suppressed (SSBCS) modulator driven by an externally-supplied RF tone (arbitrary RF frequency), a tunable optical bandpass filter, and an optical amplifier which are placed in a loop. We developed a Return--to-Zero (RZ) Differential Phase Shift Keying (DPSK) laser transmitter PIC using an InP technology platform that includes a tunable laser, a Semiconductor Optical Amplifier (SOA), high-speed Mach-Zehnder Modulator (MZM), and an electroabsorption (EAM) modulator. A Silicon Nitride (SiN) platform integrated photonic circuit suitable for a spectrally pure chip-scale tunable opto-electronic RF oscillator (OEO) that can operate as a flywheel in high precision optical clock modules, as well as radio astronomy, spectroscopy, and local oscillator in radar and communications systems is needed. We have demonstrated a low noise optical frequency combs generation from a small OEO prototypes containing very low loss (~1 dB) waveguide couplers of various shapes and sizes integrated with an ultrahigh-Q MgF2 resonators. An innovative miniaturized lab-on-a-chip device is being developed to directly monitor astronaut health during missions using ~3 drops of body fluid sample like blood, urine, and potentially other body fluids like saliva, sweat or tears. The first-generation system comprises a miniaturized biosensor based on PICs (including Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Laser – VCSEL, photodetector and optical filters and biochemical assay that generates a fluorescent optical signal change in response to the target analyte.
Deep space exploration will require laser communication systems optimized for cost, size, weight, and power. To improve these parameters, our group has been developing a photonic integrated circuit (PIC) based on indium phosphide for optical pulse position modulation (PPM). A field-programmable gate array (FPGA) was programmed to serve as a dedicated driver for the PIC. The FPGA is capable of generating 2-ary to 4096-ary PPM with a slot clock rate up to 700 MHz.
This work demonstrates the operation of a photonic integrated circuit transmitter for space optical communication utilizing an RZ-DPSK modulation format realized on an indium phosphide monolithic integration platform. It includes a widely tunable sampled grating distributed Bragg reflector laser, a semiconductor optical amplifier for amplification and burst mode operation, a dual drive Mach-Zehnder modulator (MZM) that efficiently encodes phase information, and an electro-absorption modulator RZ pulse carver.
The laser tuning range is approximately 35 nm across the telecommunications C-band. The MZM DC extinction ratio exceeds 15 dB for a differential drive voltage of 6 V peak-to-peak. Clear eye diagrams were demonstrated at 3 Gbps for OOK modulation and 1 Gbps for RZ-DPSK modulation.
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