Application of a 80 GHz all-optical clock in a 160 km transmission experiment

A novel 80 GHz all-optical clock recovery based on the self-pulsating "PhaseCOMB" (phase controlled optical mode beating) laser has been applied and tested for the first time in a system experiment, a transmission over 160 km. The jitter of the 80 Gb/s data signal generated on the transmitter side (238 fs) and of the 80 GHz clock recovered at the receiver side (282 fs) have been measured and compared. Both show an excellent low timing jitter of less then 300 fs, matching demands even for operation at higher data rates, e.g. 160 Gb/s. The good system performance of the novel 80 GHz optical clock based on the PhaseCOMB thus has been verified. We expect the PhaseCOMB will become a key component for high speed all-optical signal processing.