Colorless and Preamplifierless Reception Using an Integrated Si-Photonic Coherent Receiver

We experimentally study the sensitivity limits of an integrated Si-photonic dual-polarization balanced coherent receiver co-packaged with transimpedance amplifiers. For 28 Gbaud PDM-QPSK and PDM-16QAM signals, we compare colorless and optical preamplifierless reception to the case where an optical preamplifier and optical filters are used before the receiver. Back-to-back receiver sensitivities are evaluated. After propagation over an SMF-28e+EDFA amplified link and assuming a 3.8 × 10-3FEC threshold, colorless/preamplifierless reception using the Si-photonic receiver allows for error-free transmission of 112 Gbps PDM-QPSK over 4800 km at a received power of -23 dBm and of 224 Gbps PDM-16QAM over 640 km at a received power of -17 dBm. Finally, a 16 × 112 Gbps PDM-QPSK WDM experiment is carried out. Using the Si-photonic receiver for colorless/preamplifierless reception of all channels, we achieve error-free transmission for all channels over 4160 km at a received power of -21 dBm per channel. Results reveal that the receiver provides excellent sensitivity while allowing us to save cost, footprint, and power if used in a colorless/preamplifierless scheme.