Enhanced dynamic range in a directly modulated analog photonic link

We demonstrate a directly modulated analog photonic link (APL) capable of a high multioctave spurious-free dynamic range (SFDR). The APL consists of a pair of laser diodes, modulated in a push–pull manner, and a balanced photodetector aiming at suppressing the second-order intermodulation distortion (IMD2). In a wide frequency range of 600 MHz (2.60–3.20 GHz), an IMD2 suppression as high as 23 dB and an improvement of 5–18 dB of the second-order SFDR, relative to a conventional single arm photonic link, have been achieved. In this frequency range, the APL SFDR is in excess of 116 dB.Hz2/3}

Push-pull modulated analog photonic link with enhanced sfdr

We demonstrate an analog photonic link (APL) with a high multioctave spurious-free dynamic range (SFDR) of 120 dB.Hz2/3 at the frequency of 2.50 GHz. The APL consists of a pair of distributed-feedback laser diodes (DFB LDs), modulated in a push-pull manner, and a balanced photodetector aiming at suppressing the second-order intermodulation distortion (IMD2). At the frequency of 2.50 GHz, an IMD2 suppression of 40 dB, relative to the case of a single arm APL with one laser, is obtained. In a wide frequency range of 600 MHz (2.60 to 3.20 GHz), an improvement of 5 to 18 dB of the second-order SFDR relative to the single arm APL has been achieved.\ud \u

A photonic chip based frequency discriminator for a high performance microwave photonic link

We report a high performance phase modulation direct detection microwave photonic link employing a photonic chip as a frequency discriminator. The photonic chip consists of five optical ring resonators (ORRs) which are fully programmable using thermo-optical tuning. In this discriminator a drop-port response of an ORR is cascaded with a through response of another ORR to yield a linear phase modulation (PM) to intensity modulation (IM) conversion. The balanced photonic link employing the PM to IM conversion exhibits high second-order and third-order input intercept points of + 46 dBm and + 36 dBm, respectively, which are simultaneously achieved at one bias point.\ud \u

Nonlinear Integrated Microwave Photonics

Harnessing nonlinear optical effects in a photonic chip scale has been proven useful for a number of key applications in optical communications. Microwave photonics can also benefit from the adoption of such a technology, creating a new concept of nonlinear integrated microwave photonics. Here, we discuss the potential of on-chip nonlinear processing towards the creation of robust and multifunctional microwave photonic (MWP) processors. We also highlight key recent results in the field, including frequency agile MWP filters and ultra-wideband signal generators.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, invited paper at 2013 IEEE Topical Meeting on Microwave Photonic