Performance of 8-channel OEIC receiver array in 8 x 2.5 Gb/s WDM transmission experiment

Abstract
The performance of an 8-channel, 2.5-Gb/s OEIC photoreceiver array in an 8-wavelength long-distance WDM testbed is described. The sensitivity penalties due to crosstalk and transmission are measured, and the source of crosstalk is investigated. Channel sensitivities range from -25.4 to -26.2 dBm after transmission through 720 km of standard fiber, with transmission penalties ranging from 0.3-1.0 dB. When the power in each of seven interfering channels is 5 dB above sensitivity, the maximum cross talk penalty suffered by an individual channel does not exceed 1 dB. These experiments are the first comprehensive characterization of monolithic receiver arrays for crosstalk performance under multichannel operation in a realistic system environment.