1 Gb/s PSK Homodyne Transmission System Using Phaselocked Semiconductor Lasers

We have demonstrated homodyne detection of 1 Gb/s pilot-carrier BPSK optical signals using phaselocked 1.5microns external-cavity semiconductor lasers. After 209 km fiber transmission of a 2 sup (15) - 1 PRBS, the measured receiver sensitivity is -52.2 dBm or 46 photons/bit. We present experimental evidence of the data-to-phaselock crosstalk that potentially limits the usable linewidth-to-bit rate ratio in pilot-carrier PSK homodyne systems.