title: 40-Gbaud 16-QAM transmitter using tandem IQ modulators with binary driving electronic signals.
abstract: We propose a novel 16-quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) transmitter based on two cascaded IQ modulators driven by four separate binary electrical signals. The proposed 16-QAM transmitter features scalable configuration and stable performance with simple bias-control. Generation of 16-QAM signals at 40 Gbaud is experimentally demonstrated for the first time and visualized with a high speed constellation analyzer. The proposed modulator is also compared to two other schemes. We investigate the modulator bandwidth requirements and tolerance to accumulated chromatic dispersion through numerical simulations, and the minimum theoretical insertion attenuation is calculated analytically.
authors.affiliation: Photonics Laboratory, Department of Microtechnology and Nanoscience (MC2), Chalmers University of Technology, SE- 412 96 Göteborg, Sweden. guowei@chalmers.se
authors.forename: Guo-Wei
authors.initials: GW
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Mats
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sköld
authors.forename: Pontus
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Johannisson
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sjödin
authors.forename: Henrik
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sunnerud
authors.forename: Mathias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Westlund
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ellis
authors.forename: Peter A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Andrekson