SEPARATE ERROR-FREE TRANSMISSION OF EIGHT CHANNELS AT 10 GB/S USING COMB GENERATION IN A QUANTUM-DASH-BASED MODE-LOCKED LASER

We report on comb generation at 1.55 mum using a mode-locked quantum-dash-based laser. A flat optical spectrum with a ~10-nm width consisting of eight 100-GHz-spaced channels is demonstrated. Separate error-free transmission of each channel is achieved at 10 Gb/s over 50-km-long single-mode fiber. Compared to an ideal external cavity continuous-wave laser, a penalty of only 1.5 dB is measured for each filtered channel. This is attributed to the higher relative intensity noise level of a filtered mode.