Signal-to-Noise Performance of Two Analog Photonic Links Using Different Noise Reduction Techniques

• Published in: 2007 IEEE/MTT-S International Microwave Symposium pp. 51 - 54
• Main Authors: Ackerman, E.I., Betts, G.E., Burns, W.K., Campbell, J.C., Cox, C.H., Ning Duan, Prince, J.L., Regan, M.D., Roussell, H.V.
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: IEEE 01-06-2007
• Subjects: electrooptic modulation; Gain; High power amplifiers; laser noise; Low-noise amplifiers; Noise figure; Noise reduction; Optical amplifiers; Optical fiber communication; Oscillators; Photodetectors; Semiconductor optical amplifiers; Stimulated emission
• ISBN: 1424406870; 9781424406876
• ISSN: 0149-645X; 2576-7216
• DOI: 10.1109/MWSYM.2007.380216

We demonstrate two analog photonic links that use different noise reduction techniques to achieve high gain and low noise figure without electronic amplification. Both links use a high-power, low-noise master oscillator power amplifier as the optical source, a balanced-bridge dual-output LiNbO 3 Mach-Zehnder modulator with a record low V π = 1.33 V at 12 GHz, and either one or two high-power rear-illuminated photodetectors. In the first link, both outputs of the quadrature-biased modulator are used to illuminate two photodetectors configured for laser noise cancellation, yielding record high gain (> 17.0 dB) and low noise figure (< 6.9 dB) across the 6-12 GHz band. The second link uses low biasing to maximize the signal-to-noise ratio in one of the two modulator outputs, and thus requires only one photo-detector. This link has lower gain (> 12.7 dB) but also record low noise figure (< 5.7 dB) across this same frequency band.