Dispersion measurements of a 1.3 μm quantum dot semiconductor optical amplifier over 120 nm of spectral bandwidth

Group delay and higher order dispersion measurements are conducted on a 1.3 mu m quantum dot semiconductor optical amplifier at various injection currents. White-light spectral interferometry is performed, along with a wavelet transform to recover the group delay. The group delay, group velocity dispersion, and higher order dispersion terms are quantified. The measurement spans both ground state and first excited state transitions, ranging from 1200 to 1320 nm. The group velocity dispersion, beta(2), is found to be -6.3x10(3) fs(2) (7.6 fs/nm) at an injection current of 500 mA. (C) 2010 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3430742]