Optical single-sideband modulator for broad-band subcarrier multiplexing systems

We experimentally demonstrate an enhanced optical single-sideband (OSSB) modulator for subcarrier-multiplexing (SCM) systems that provides improvement of the output optical modulation depth without increasing either the second-order or the third-order nonlinear distortion of the transmitted radio frequency signal. The modulator is deployed in an SCM link conveying 4 * 622-Mb/s modulated subcarriers, demonstrating an enhancement of five orders of magnitude in bit error rate compared to the use of a dual-electrode OSSB modulator design. In addition, the dispersion penalty for the worst-case channel is reduced to less than 1.7 dB.