10Gbps Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Lasers Data Transmission

Abstract

The overwhelming increase in bandwidth demand as the number of people with smart phones and other internet-using gadgets shoots up, with emerging numerous apps (some with an aspect of live streaming), social media platforms, the increase in number of broadcasting networks both Radio and television stations, plus almost every household having a TV set and Radio, with a current advancement of access on mobile phones has created a bottle-neck in telecommunication transmissions. The blocking/denying internet access for specific apps has become the desperate measure users have resorted to, for example 'setting up a firewall for smart phones' to maintain fast internet, which is inconveniencing and user unsatisfying. Other measures in place include recent digital migration, which arose out of the Regional Radio communication Conference of 2006 (RRC06) and the subsequent Geneva 2006 Agreement (GE06) of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) 'Recommendations' which resolved that all countries signatory to the agreement must migrate from analogue to digital broadcasting services by 2015 (Uganda was part). This is a smart move, but it doesn't solve the problem of increased required capacity. In this study, we experimentally demonstrate 10Gbps data transmissions using a direct data modulator that is, a 1300 nm Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Laser (VCSEL). We characterized the modulator to attain effective performance thus obtaining the appropriate current value (5.5mA) at which we incurred minimum penalties and corresponding Bit Error Rates (BERs) favourable for high-speed modulation, i.e., a sensitivity of -16.8745 dBm power penalty was obtained on a 17km length ITU-T G.652 Non-Dispersion Shifted Single mode fiber.