Generation of 10GHz 2ps Short Laser Pulses Using an Electroabsorption Modulator and Two-Stage Compression

A short pulse generator based on a commercially available bulk material electroabsorption modulator was experimentally demonstrated. By optimizing the length of the dispersion compensation fibre, nearly transform limited pulse was generated. There are a 2-ps-pulsed train with a timing jitter of 650fs and a repetition rate of 10GHz obtained with two-stage nonlinear compression. The quality of the pulse was further verified by 4×10Gbit/s optical time-division-multiplexed communication system experiment in which a low demultiplexing power penalty of 0.3dB was achieved.