Improved dispersion tolerance of a Mach–Zehnder modulator by optimizing the modulator voltage and time delay

We present a method for improving the dispersion tolerance of a dual-arm Mach–Zehnder modulator by independently optimizing the applied voltage on each arm and the time delay between them. We found a significant improvement in the dispersion tolerance. Using the negative chirp effect and the time delay, it was possible to extend the transmission distance of 10 Gbit/s optical nonreturn-to-zero signals without any additional electrical or optical components.