Dispersion compensation in 40 Gb/s non-return-to-zero optical transmission system using coupled-cavity photonic crystals

We experimentally demonstrated the dispersion compensation in a 40Gb/s non-return-to-zero optical transmission, using photonic crystal coupled-cavity waveguides (PhC CCWs). In this experiment, the PhC CCWs consisted of one-dimensional SiO2/Ta2O5 thin him structures. The deteriorated optical signal after traveling a single-mode fiber (SMF) was compensated for by transmitting three times into a ten-stack PhC CCW. As a result, a well-defined eye pattern was obtained at a distance of 4.5 km for an SMF, although it closed without the CCWs. This indicated that the CCWs compensated for a dispersion of more than 60ps/nm. This is the first experimental result showing that the PhC can be used to construct a compact dispersion compensator in a 40 Gb/s optical transmission.