Monolithic Mode-Locked Laser and Optical Amplifier for Regenerative Pulsed Optical Clock Recovery

We experimentally demonstrate optical clock recovery using a novel mode-locked laser (MLL) monolithically integrated with an output semiconductor optical amplifier. The laser’s mirror placement is determined using lithography, allowing for mode locking and clock recovery at the exact frequency of the design (35.00 GHz), which is easily scalable to 40 GHz or higher. The design is compatible with other photonic integrated circuit components, enabling integrated signal processing with MLLs. The device generates pulses at 35.0-GHz repetition rate with 6-ps pulsewidth, over 12-dB extinction ratio (ER), and 8.3-dBm output power. Among other regenerative capabilities, the device performs optical clock recovery with 50% jitter reduction from a degraded input signal with low ER