Post-detection chromatic dispersion equalisation using GaAs MMICs in heterodyne detection systems

The authors have devised, fabricated and demonstrated the effectiveness of a GaAs MMIC fibre chromatic dispersion equaliser for application in heterodyne optical fibre systems. The results of the fabricated equaliser are found to be in good agreement with the analytic predictions, affording significant reductions in dispersion penalty of the detected signal at a bit rate of 5 Gbit/s. An important feature of this approach is that the use of GaAs MMIC technology allows dispersion compensation to be integrated with other receiver electronics, providing a practical and convenient solution to fibre group delay equalisation in heterodyne optical systems