Multi-octave operation of analog optical link using parallel intensity modulators

In this paper, we show in detail that the complementary modulation characteristic of the parallel intensity Mach-Zehnder modulators can be exploited for the cancellation of the second order harmonic distortion in the analog optical links. A suppression of 29.3 dB in the second order harmonic distortion is experimentally demonstrated. By using this proposed technique, multi-octave operation of the link is implemented. The proposed approach can be used to suppress the second order harmonic distortion which is pronounced in the low biased links. This technique shows excellent potential for future multi-octave analog optical links.