Intermodulation and harmonic distortion in InGaAsP lasers

Abstract

A theoretical and experimental study is presented of intermodulation and harmonic distortion in high-speed 1.3 and 1.5 μm InGaAsP lasers modulated at frequencies up to 8 GHz. It is found that all lasers measured, including Fabry-Perot and distributed feedback lasers, generate approximately the same distortion levels for a given modulation depth and relaxation resonance frequency. There are minor differences between lasers, which result from differences in the damping of the small-signal resonance peak.