Laser Phase Noise in Ring Resonator Assisted Direct Detection Data Transmission

We introduce an analytical model describing the statistical and spectral properties of laser phase noise induced intensity noise in ring-resonator-based modulation. The model is validated with single sideband orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (SSB-OFDM) implemented with a silicon photonics resonantly-assisted Mach-Zehnder modulator (RA-MZM). Excellent agreement of experimental data with full link simulations, in which phase noise conversion is treated with the analytical model, confirms its validity. Moreover, we demonstrate 30 Gb/s raw data rate transmission with SSB-OFDM over 20 km of single-mode fiber with a bit error ratio below the 20% forward error correction (FEC) limit for three independently run channels of the RA-MZM, each supplied with off-the-shelf 1 MHz linewidth distributed feedback lasers.