For high data rate (greater than 1 Gbps) Optical Inter- Satellite Link (OISL), a compact laser transmitter with high power and good efficiency is required. A trade-off analysis between the technologies such as the mature 840 nm laser diodes, 1064 nm diode-pumped solid state laser and the more recent 1550 nm Erbium Doped Fiber Amplifier (EDFA) is used to find the optical solution. The Si-APDs are preferred for their large detector areas and good noise figures which reduce the tracking requirements and simplify optical design of the receiver. Because of significant amount of power needed to close the link distance up to 7000 km (LEO-LEO), use of 840 nm diodes is limited. In this paper, we present an alternative system based on a system concept denoted as the SLYB (Semiconductor Laser Ytterbium Booster). The SLYB uses a polarization maintaining double-clad ytterbium fiber as a power amplifier. The device houses two semiconductor diodes that are designed to meet telecom reliability: a broad-area 917 nm pump diode and a directly modulated FP laser for signal generation. The output signal is in a linearly polarized state with an extinction ratio of 20 dB. The complete module (15 X 12 X 4.3 cm³) weighs less than 0.9 kg and delivers up to 27 dBm average output power at 985 nm. Designed primarily for direct detection using Si APDs, the transmitter offers a modulation data rate of at least 1.5 Gb/s with a modulation extinction ratio better than 13 dB. Total power consumption is expected to be lower than 8 W by using an uncooled pump laser. Preliminary radiation testing of the fiber indicates output power penalty of 1.5 dB at the end of 10 years in operation. We are presently investigating the fabrication of an improved radiation-hardened Yb-fiber for the final prototype to reduce this penalty. For higher data rate the design can be extended to a Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM) scheme adding multiple channels.

Date Published: 26 April 1999
PDF: 9 pages
Proc. SPIE 3615, Free-Space Laser Communication Technologies XI, (26 April 1999); doi: 10.1117/12.346190

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 3615:
Free-Space Laser Communication Technologies XI
G. Stephen Mecherle, Editor(s)