Coherent Optical Receiver for Linear Optical Phase Demodulation

A novel optical coherent receiver architecture for linear optical phase modulation is presented. A proof-of-concept demonstration has been performed using discrete components and at low frequency. High dynamic range has been confirmed at 3.13 mA average photocurrent; 124.3 dBHz^2/3, corresponding to a 131.5 dBHz^2/3 if a shot-noise limited noise floor were achieved (here limited by low-frequency 1/f-type noise). Further, efforts to increase the operating frequency to the GHz region and beyond has been outlined in the efforts to develop compact, low latency integrated chip technology and the development of novel sampling downconversion receiver architectures.