1. 3- mu M BH LASER PERFORMANCE AT MICROWAVE FREQUENCIES.

The performance of In//1// minus //XGa//XAs//YP//1// minus //Y buried heterostructure (BH) 1. 3- mu m lasers has been studied in the microwave range. This study consisted of small-signal, large-signal, and digital pseudorandom word evaluation of these lasers. The small-signal study pointed out the impact of the oxide stripe capacitance on the laser response at microwave frequencies. The large-signal study uncovered basic laser nonlinearities that affect the temporal response, spectral broadening, and wavelength chirp. Finally, digital pseudorandom word tests performed at 1. 7 Gb/s indicated that in spite of these inherent laser nonlinearities, the 1. 3- mu m BH lasers performed well enough to be considered promising sources for gigabit optical communication systems.