L- and U-Band WDM Transmission Over 6 THz Using PPLN-Based Optical Parametric Amplification and Wavelength-Band Conversion
Shimpei Shimizu, Takayuki Kobayashi, Akira Kawai, Takushi Kazama, Masanori Nakamura, Koji Enbutsu, Takahiro Kashiwazaki, Masashi Abe, Takeshi Umeki, Yutaka Miyamoto, T. Kato, Yu Tanaka, Takeshi Hoshida
Abstract
We demonstrate a 38.4-Tbps (60 ch. × 640 Gbps) wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) transmission across 5 × 80-km G.654.E single-mode fibers over 6 THz within L- and U-bands. The U-band (1625–1675 nm) is promising as a next transmission band for multiband networks because of its low transmission loss compared with E- and O-bands, but there are few demonstrations of coherent WDM transmission with the U-band. One reason is that promising optical components, especially for optical transceivers, are underdeveloped for the U-band. An optical parametric amplifier (OPA) using a periodically poled LiNbO3 (PPLN) waveguide has wide-gain bandwidth and wavelength conversion function, which allows the use of commercially available optical components for new bands. We achieve L- and U-band digital coherent WDM transmission within 1597.2–1649.9 nm (181.7–187.7 THz) using PPLN-based optical parametric inline amplification and wavelength-band conversion.