Direct and Electroabsorption Modulation of a III–V-on-Silicon DFB Laser at 56 Gb/s

In order to cope with the ever-growing Internet traffic, high-speed optical interconnects are becoming indispensable. Silicon photonics is emerging as a key technology for such interconnects. In this paper, we demonstrate 56 Gb/s nonreturn to zero on-off keying (NRZ-OOK) direct modulation based on a high bandwidth heterogeneously integrated III-V-on-silicon distributed feedback laser, as well as transmission over 2 km single mode fiber. Using a very similar device, but with electrically isolated and reversely biased tapers, we obtain compact electroabsorption modulation at 56 Gb/s NRZ-OOK as well.