A 10 Gb/s Directly-Modulated 1.3 μm InAs/GaAs Quantum-Dot Laser

Abstract

We demonstrate 10 Gb/s directly-modulated 1.3 μm InAs quantum-dot (QD) lasers grown on GaAs substrates by molecular beam epitaxy. The active region of the QD lasers consists of five-stacked InAs QD layers. Ridge-waveguide lasers with a ridge width of 4 μm and a cavity length of 600 μm are fabricated with standard lithography and wet etching techniques. It is found that the lasers emit at 1293 nm with a very low threshold current of 5 mA at room temperature. Furthermore, clear eye-opening patterns under 10 Gb/s modulation rate at temperatures of up to 50° C are achieved by the QD lasers. The results presented here have important implications for realizing low-cost, low-power-consumption, and high-speed light sources for next-generation communication systems.