High-speed characterization for optical telecommunication signals

Optical telecommunication systems constantly evolve toward higher bit rates, requiring the modulation and detection of higher-bandwidth optical waves. Commercial systems operating at 40 Gb/s are now available and research and development efforts are targeting higher bit rates for which optical pulses with picosecond-range duration are used. Chromatic dispersion, nonlinearities and amplified spontaneous emission from optical amplifiers are sources of transmission impairments that must be characterized and mitigated. Advanced modulation formats rely on the modulation of not only the amplitude of an optical wave (e.g., on/off keying), but also its phase (e.g., phase-shift keying) in order to optimize the transmission capabilities. The importance of the characterization of the properties of optical sources and components and the specificities of the optical telecommunication environment with respect to ultrafast optics are emphasized. Various diagnostics measuring the electric field of optical sources in the telecommunication environment are described. Sampling diagnostics capable of measuring eye diagrams and constellation diagrams of high-bit-rate, data-encoded sources are presented. Various optical pulse characterization techniques that meet the sensitivity requirements imposed by the telecommunication environment are also described.