VCSEL characterizations at the circuit- and system-levels for low-cost RoF applications

This paper develops the fundamental figures of merit of vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) with the goal to use them on the Radio-over-Fiber (RoF) link study. Different analogue properties like frequency response, noise and spurious-free dynamic range (SDFR) were studied. Optical-Microwave quantities allowing to express the gain, the noise factor, the IP3 and the SFDR were defined and measured. This work allows to separate the contribution from the laser and the detector. The VCSEL tested presented at 5GHz and 8mA: a 1 dB compression point of +7.6dBm at the input; an opto-microwave OIP3 of -3.5 dBm; an optical-microwave noise factor optical-microwave of 41.4 dB and optical-microwave SFDR of 95.1 dBHz^2/3.