Dynamic range of vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers in multimode links

We report spurious-free dynamic-range measurements of 850-nm vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers in short multimode links for radio frequency communication. For a 27 m fiber link, the dynamic range at optimal bias was greater than 95 dBHz/sup 2/3/ for modulation frequencies between 1 and 5.5 GHz, which exceeds the requirements for antenna remoting in microcellular networks. In a free-space link, we have measured the highest dynamic range in an 850-nm vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser of 113 dB Hz/sup 1/3/ at 900 MHz. We have also investigated the effects of modal noise and differential mode delay on the dynamic range for longer lengths of fiber.