All-optical low-power 2R regeneration of 10-Gb/s NRZ signals using a III-V on SOI microdisk laser

Abstract

We demonstrate an all-optical low-power 2R regenerator of 10-Gb/s non-return-to-zero data based on a 10- μm-diameter electrically pumped microdisk laser, which is heterogeneously integrated onto the silicon-on-insulator platform and processed in a CMOS pilot line. The scheme results in BER improvement 8and works for submilliwatt-level input signals. The laser operates in the continuous-wave regime, and it is single mode at room temperature and consumes 6 mW of electrical power. Its regeneration capability is investigated in simulations and experimentally demonstrated. © 2009-2012 IEEE.