A 20-km/60-Gb/s Two-Way PON Based on Directly Modulated Two-Stage Injection-Locked 1.55- VCSEL Transmitters and Negative Dispersion Fibers

A 20-km/60-Gb/s two-way passive optical network (PON) based on directly modulated two-stage injection-locked 1.55-μm vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) transmitters and negative dispersion fibers (NDFs) is proposed and demonstrated. A one-stage injection-locked technique has been confirmed as an effective approach for increasing the frequency response of a VCSEL. A two-stage injection-locked technique, which can further increase the frequency response of a VCSEL, is thereby expected to have excellent transmission performance in a two-way PON. To be the first to employ directly modulated two-stage injection-locked 1.55-μm VCSEL transmitters in a two-way PON, brilliant bit-error-rate performance and a clear eye diagram are obtained over a 20-km NDF transport. A directly modulated VCSEL has a positive chirp, whereas an NDF has a negative dispersion property in the transmission fiber; this negative dispersion property compensates the laser positive chirp and results in systems with better transmission performance. Such an innovative two-way PON provides the advantage of a communication link for high data rates, which is an attractive feature that is useful for broadband network applications.