Effect of chirping-induced waveform distortion on the performance of direct detection receivers using traveling-wave semiconductor optical preamplifiers

The influence of chirping-induced waveform distortion on the performance of multigigabit-per-second traveling-wave semiconductor optical amplifier (TWSOA)/p-i-n direct detection receivers is evaluated. The results are based on a novel method of evaluating the probability of error in the presence of the signal-spontaneous and spontaneous-spontaneous beat noise components. Laser chirping causes the dependence of the receiver sensitivity on the fiber dispersion coefficient*length product DL to be different for TWSOA/p-i-n and avalanche photodiode (APD) receivers. Compared to the APD receiver, the sensitivity of the TWSOA/p-i-n receiver degrades less quickly. So for cases of practical interest, the TWSOA/p-i-n receiver is more tolerant of chirping-induced waveform distortion.>