High speed 1.55 µm InAs/InGaAlAs/InP quantum dot lasers

We report static and dynamic characteristics of InAs/InP quantum dot (QD) lasers emitting near 1.55 mum. The gain section was optimized for a high speed operation using a unique spatially resolved model. The measured modulation capability dependence on structural parameters (barrier width and the number of QD layers) is consistent with the model predictions. Short cavity lasers with a modal gain of more than 10 cm -1 per dot layer exhibit a small signal modulation bandwidth above 9 GHz and large signal modulation at up to 22 Gb/s with an on/off ratio of 3 dB.