THE APPLICABILITY OF HIGH-POWER LASER-DIODES TO OPTICAL INTERSATELLITE LINKS

Laser diodes (LD) are investigated as a suitable light source of a tra nsmitter for an optical intersatellite link (ISL). The requirements fo r an LD are high power, a single-lobed beam, and a high-speed direct m odulation capability. In this study, concerning a high-power LD of 1-w att output class, the radiation, polarization, and modulation characte ristics are examined. It is shown that a signal modulation bandwidth o f 300 MHz and 750 mW output power are possible, and that the modulatio n bandwidth can be expanded to 400 MHz by improving the driver circuit . However, multiple peaks in the far-field pattern and higher-harmonic generation are problems to be solved for an optical ISL. (C) 1998 Scr ipta Technica, Electron Comm Jpn Pt 2, 81(3): 29-38, 1998.