Real-Time DSP-Free 40 Gbit/s PAM4 Transmission Over 10 km Fiber Enabled by Optical Injection Locking of Directly Modulated Laser

We present a comprehensive performance analysis of injection-locked directly modulated lasers (DMLs) for optical communication systems, focusing on both non-return-to-zero (NRZ) and 4-level pulse amplitude modulation (PAM4) signal transmission. We demonstrate real-time PAM4 40 Gbit/s transmission over 10 km of single-mode fiber enabled by optical injection locking without pre-emphasis or post-equalization, achieving a bit error rate (BER) below ${10^{-6}}$, and doubling capacity compared to unlocked transmission with the same laser. Our study investigates the dependence of system performance on the injected power and frequency offset of the master laser. Results indicate that lower injection powers while maintaining a stable locking regime, yield better performance in terms of extinction ratio and BER. Optimized parameters lead to enhanced transmission performance, providing valuable insights into the design and optimization of injection-locked DML systems for optical communication applications employing direct modulation.