Sensitivity Improvements in an 850 nm VCSEL-based Link using a Two-tap Pre-emphasis Electronic Filter

We present an investigation of an ISI penalty reduction for On-Off Keying in an 850 nm VCSEL-based short optical link using a two-tap electronic pre-emphasis filter and quantify the improvement relative to an equivalent link without pre-emphasis. Error-free operation is demonstrated at bit rates above the −3 dB modulation bandwidth of the link. Sensitivity improvement up to 9 dB compared to non-emphasized signaling is shown. A maximum error-free bit rate achievable in the link is increased to 57 Gbps, compared to 52 Gbps without the pre-emphasis