Large-signal theory of the effect of dispersive propagation on the intensity modulation response of semiconductor lasers

We have derived an exact large-signal theory of propagation in a dispersive fiber of an optical wave with sinusoidal amplitude and frequency modulatio n. This has been applied to the study of large-signal direct-modulation of semiconductor lasers, It is shown that the large-signal response can signif icantly deviate from the predictions of the small-signal theory. In particu lar, the improvement in modulation response caused by frequency-to-intensit y modulation conversion in propagation that occurs with small-signal modula tion is no longer achieved with large-signal modulation, which could affect systems such as dispersion supported transmission. Experimental results co nfirm our theory.