Enhanced Modulation Bandwidth by Delayed Push–Pull Modulated DFB Lasers

The bandwidth of a distributed feedback (DFB) directly modulated laser (DML) is limited by its carrier–photon resonance (CPR) frequency. A viable approach to break the bottleneck is to introduce a photon–photon resonance (PPR), since the PPR can happen at a much higher frequency than the CPR. Among the many structures that can possibly generate the PPR, the dual-sectional push–pull modulated (PPM) DFB is of particular interest for its fabrication cost-effectiveness as no regrowth is required. The PPR in the PPM DFB, however, usually shows a rapid roll-off on both edges, which brings in an indentation on the lower frequency side of the PPR peak and, consequently, cuts off the bandwidth. To compensate for this dip, we introduce a detuned PPR and restart the CPR response by exploiting a time delay between the differential signals applied to the PPM DFB. Our simulation result shows that the broadened PPR peak and the restarted CPR response indeed mitigate the dip and effectively expand the PPM-DFB’s bandwidth to approximately 50 GHz, a value double that of the conventional (single-sectional) DFB DML.