DETAILED LARGE-SIGNAL DYNAMIC MODELING OF DFB LASER STRUCTURES AND COMPARISON WITH EXPERIMENT

This paper describes the first general large-signal dynamic multiple-m ode laser model that incorporates all the main mechanisms known to inf luence the dynamic behaviour of DFB laser structures with the exceptio n of thermal effects: longitudinal mode spatial hole burning, carrier transport effects, nonlinear gain, and laser and submount parasitics. The time evolution of the output power and wavelength of all modes is predicted, and full spectra can be plotted as a function of time. The model has been extended to include an approximation to the effects of propagation down dispersive fibre, thereby allowing the simulation of filtered received eye diagrams. Detailed comparison of the model with the experimental performance of 2 x lambda/8 DFB lasers has shown good agreement, allowing the performance to be optimized, particularly wit h respect to longitudinal hole burning and carrier transport. The mode l is also applied to gain-switched operation of 2 x lambda/8 DFB struc tures, fast pulsing of three-section lambda/4 DFB lasers, and the dyna mic behaviour of complex coupling coefficient DFB laser structures.