Generation of transform-limited optical pulses up to 20 GHz from a monolithic electroabsorption modulator/DFB laser

Stable generation of transform-limited optical pulses using a monolithic electroabsorption (EA) modulator/DFB laser was demonstrated. The integrated device had a small α-parameter less than 0.3 and a wide electrical bandwidth over 20GHz. The time-bandwidth products of the generated optical pulses were less than 0.33 in the modulation frequency between 5 and 20GHz. Temporal forms of th e pulses were in good agreement with the sech2 pulse form. The over 4dBm output peak power was achieved from the EA modulator facet for 20GHz modulation frequency.