Performance Evaluation of Electroabsorption Modulators as Optical Transceivers in Radio-Over-Fiber Systems By FDTD Method

• Published in: Journal of lightwave technology Vol. 24; no. 12; pp. 4953 - 4958
• Main Authors: Hur, S., Seungki Nam, Hanlim Lee, Seongtaek Hwang, Yunje Oh, Jichai Jeong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY IEEE 01-12-2006; Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Chips; Circuit properties; Electric potential; Electric, optical and optoelectronic circuits; Electroabsorption modulator (EAM); Electroabsorption modulators; Electromagnetic fields; Electromagnetic modeling; Electromagnetic waveguides; Electronics; Exact sciences and technology; Finite difference method; Finite difference methods; Finite difference time domain method; finite-difference time domain (FDTD); Integrated optics. Optical fibers and wave guides; Integrated optoelectronics. Optoelectronic circuits; Mathematical models; microwave photonics; Optical and optoelectronic circuits; Optical fiber communications; Optical modulation; optical systems; Optical telecommunications; Optical waveguides; Power system modeling; radio-over-fiber (RoF); Telecommunications; Telecommunications and information theory; Time domain analysis; Transceivers; Voltage; Performance evaluation; Integrated optics; Input signal; Downlink; Optical field; Numerical method; Cell network; Electroabsorption modulator (EAM); Passive system; finite- difference time domain (FDTD); Electromagnetic interaction; Optical fiber network; Bias voltage; Optical fiber communication; Optical waveguide; Uplink; optical systems; Mobile radiocommunication; Electroabsorption modulator; Addition; Optical modulator; Finite difference time-domain analysis; Optical transmitters; Response function; Microwave photonics; Comparative study; radio-over-fiber (RoF)
• ISSN: 0733-8724; 1558-2213
• DOI: 10.1109/JLT.2006.884565

In this paper, the limitations of the performance of electroabsorption modulators (EAMs) as optical transceivers in passive picocell systems by using the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method are theoretically investigated. EAMs with no bias voltage are modeled by the FDTD method with consideration of the interaction between electromagnetic fields and optical powers in optical waveguides. Transmission and responsivity of EAMs according to various optical input powers and chip lengths are calculated. Then, power margins of the downlink and uplink paths are estimated to define the service ranges of the passive picocell systems. In addition, EAMs with biased voltage are characterized for comparison. The results suggest that the service range of the passive picocell system using a no-biased EAM can be extended up to 20 m with a chip length of 400 mum and an optical input power larger than 10 dBm