Linearized modulator for suboctave-bandpass optical analog links

Author

Betts, Gary E.

Author_Institution

Lincoln Lab., MIT, Lexington, MA, USA

Volume

42

Issue

12

fYear

1994

fDate

12/1/1994 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

2642

Lastpage

2649

Abstract

The spurious-free dynamic range of a suboctave externally modulated optical analog link can be improved (to >140 dB Hz^4/5) with modest received optical power and little noise figure penalty by using a simple linearized modulator. Its design consists of two standard Mach-Zehnder interferometric modulators in series, and so can operate at microwave frequencies. This paper develops standardized measures of linearized modulator performance, and uses them to evaluate the modulator; link examples are also given. A simple experiment verifies the basic theoretical predictions

Keywords

Mach-Zehnder interferometers; cable television; electro-optical modulation; intermodulation distortion; microwave links; optical fibre communication; Mach-Zehnder interferometric modulators; cable TV; intermodulation distortion; linearized modulator; microwave frequencies; noise figure penalty; optical insertion loss; received optical power; spurious-free dynamic range; suboctave-bandpass optical analog links; Cable TV; Detectors; Dynamic range; Electrooptic modulators; Noise figure; Optical design; Optical distortion; Optical interferometry; Optical modulation; Optical noise;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Microwave Theory and Techniques, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9480

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/22.339809

Filename

339809