ULTRALOW POWER OPTICAL INTERCONNECT WITH ZERO-BIASED, ULTRALOW THRESHOLD LASER - HOW LOW A THRESHOLD IS LOW ENOUGH

Ultralow threshold (I-th < 100 mu A) lasers can be used in ultralow po wer optical interconnect, preferably in a bias-free digital optical mo dulation format. We show that even though optical power requirements f or successful transmission may dictate that the pulse drive current be many times that of I-th, reducing the latter to 10-100 mu A is still essential in minimizing the total driver power to the laser at multi-g igabit data rates.