High efficiency 1.3 mu m multiple quantum well electroabsorption waveguide modulators for microwave photonic links

Efficient InAsP/GaInP multiple-quantum-well (MQW) electroabsorption waveguide modulators have been developed at 1.3 mu m wavelength. The modulators exhibit a typical fiber-to-fiber optical insertion loss of 7 dB, a slope efficiency of 1.0 V-1, and an optical saturation intensity in excess of 10 mW. The 3 dB electrical bandwidth is dictated by the device capacitance and a 13 GHz bandwidth has been measured for a 3 mu m wide 180 mu m long modulator. In a microwave photonic link without amplification, a RF link gain as high as -31 dB is achieved at 0.9 mA photodetector current and 1 GHz subcarrier modulation frequency.