Frequency response of a unidirectional-output optical frequency conversion device with an asymmetrical- kappa DBR laser structure

The frequency response of a unidirectional-output optical frequency conversion device is measured. The device has a saturable absorber region within the active region, which acts as an optical gate for converted light. The 3-dB bandwidth of the device with saturable absorber region is measured up to 800 MHz, and is found to be limited by the frequency response of the saturable absorber region. To operate the device faster, lasing mode intensity modulation by input light is attempted by using the device in a laser diode mode. In this case, the electrodes of the saturable absorber and the gain regions are connected electrically, and the saturable absorber region is also biased far above the threshold condition at the same time with the gain region. The 3-dB bandwidth of the device increases to over 10 GHz, and the 10-Gb/s nonreturn-to-zero (NRZ) eye pattern can be observed when the input TM-polarized light intensity is modulated by a 10-Gb/s NRZ pseudorandom signal.<>