Material-dispersion-limited operation of high-bit-rate optical-fibre data links using l.e.d.s

Abstract
Material dispersion generally limits the transmission capacity of optical-fibre data links using l.e.d.s. A 137 Mb/s data link has been operated by using either AlGaAs or InGaAsP l.e.d.s at 0.89 or 1.20 μm, respectively. ‘Eye’ diagrams of the received signal for transmission over different lengths of a graded-index germanium borosilicate fibre illustrate the effects of material dispersion.