10 GHz, 2.4 ps pulse generation using a single-stage dual-drive Mach-Zehnder modulator

This Letter reports on picosecond pulse generation at a repetition of 10 GHz by using a single-stage electro-optic LiNbO(3) Mach-Zehnder modulator, stressing the simplicity of its setup. It is analytically and experimentally proved that dual-arm modulation with in-phase sinusoidal signals having slightly different amplitudes generated a highly coherent optical comb with a great spectral flatness and a parabolic phase relationship in its spectrum. The generated comb was Fourier synthesized and shaped into an ultrashort pulse train with an optical bandpass filter and a dispersive fiber. The pulse source was highly stable, exhibiting an ultralow timing jitter of less than 130 fs.     

Optical pulse generation by using quasi-velocity-matched guided-wave electrooptic phase modulator

A quasi-velocity-matched guided-wave electrooptic modulator was fabricated using a periodically domain-inverted LiTaO₃. Band modulation characteristics around the designed modulation frequency and the generation of optical sidebands of about 100 GHz were confirmed experimentally. The trains of optical pulses below 20 ps were also generated by the compression of the optical sidebands from the modulator. It should lead to the construction of integrated optical pulse generators.     

Photonic generation of triangular waveform signals by using a dual-parallel Mach-Zehnder modulator

A photonic approach to generate triangular waveform signals is proposed and analyzed. With active bias control, two sub-MZMs (MZ-a and MZ-b) of a dual-parallel Mach-Zehnder modulator (DP-MZM) operate at minimum transmission point, leaving the main MZM (MZ-c) at quadrature transmission point. Triangular waveform can be observed by a parameter setting of modulation index. The proposal is first analyzed and then validated by simulation. The key significance of the scheme is that it is capable of generating triangular waveform signals via a sinusoid local oscillator.     

Asymptotic formalism for ultraflat optical frequency comb generation using a Mach-Zehnder modulator

We theoretically prove that a conventional Mach-Zehnder modulator can generate an optical frequency comb with excellent spectral flatness. The modulator is asymmetrically dual driven by large amplitude sinusoidal signals with different amplitudes. The driving condition to obtain spectral flatness is analytically derived and optimized, yielding a simple formula. This formula also predicts the conversion efficiency and bandwidth of the generated frequency comb.     

Picosecond flat-top pulse generation using dual-mode fiber Mach-Zehnder interferometers

We report on an optical fiber Mach-Zehnder interferometer made by offset splicing a dual-mode fiber with two single-mode fibers. The extinction ratio can be tuned from less than 1 dB to greater than 28 dB by rotating the dual-mode fiber along its axial direction. The interferometer is utilized as a pulse shaper to convert a 2.5 ps Gaussian pulse to a 5.2 ps flat-top pulse.     

Photonic ultrawideband monocycle pulse generation using a single electro-optic modulator

A compact approach to photonic-assisted ultrawideband (UWB) monocycle pulse generation is proposed and experimentally demonstrated based on the wavelength dependence of the half-wave voltage of a Mach-Zehnder modulator (MZM). By employing a single MZM with dual-wavelength injection at around 1310 and 1550 nm, a pair of polarity-reversed monocycle pulses with the full width at half-maximum of about 80 ps and the fractional bandwidth of greater than 160% can be generated. The experiment results agree well with the theoretical prediction. The simple setup and the convenience to control the monocycle pulse polarity are favorable for future applications.     

Photonic generation of ultra-wideband doublet pulse using a semiconductor-optical-amplifier based polarization-diversified loop

We propose and demonstrate a novel scheme of ultra-wideband (UWB) doublet pulse generation using a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) based polarization-diversified loop (PDL) without any assistant light. In our scheme, the incoming gaussian pulse is split into two parts by the PDL, and each of them is intensity modulated by the other due to cross-gain modulation (XGM) in the SOA. Then, both parts are recombined with incoherent summation to form a UWB doublet pulse. Bi-polar UWB doublet pulse generation is demonstrated using an inverted gaussian pulse injection. Moreover, pulse amplitude modulation of UWB doublet is also experimentally demonstrated. Our scheme shows some advantages, such as simple implementation without assistant light and single optical carrier operation with good fiber dispersion tolerance.     

Optical frequency comb generation using a quasi-velocity-matched Fabry-Perot phase modulator

We report about the optical frequency comb generation by means of a bulk type phase modulator with periodic domain inversion. The phase modulator operates as a quasi-velocity-matched electro-optical phase modulator having high modulation efficiency. It is possible to generate a broadband optical frequency comb by using the modulator installed into an Fabry-Perot resonator. In this experiment, we made the quasi-velocity-matched phase modulator and then used it to generate the efficient optical frequency comb. From this result, we could confirm operation characteristics of the optical frequency comb and the utility of the phase modulator respectively.     

UWB-over-Fiber transmission system using a dual-output Mach-Zehnder modulator

<正>A novel scheme for ultra-wideband(UWB) monocycle pulse generation is proposed based on a dual-output push-pull Mach-Zehnder modulator(MZM).The MZM is driven by a non-return-to-zero(NRZ) data sequence and biased at the nonlinear point to generate edge-triggered pulses.To combine the complementary pulses forming a monocycle UWB pulse,two schemes are used to implement incoherent summation structure. A proof-of-concept experiment of UWB-over-fiber down-link system is set up.Further,by using digital signal processing(DSP) to calculate the bit error rate(BER),the transmission performance of two system configurations is studied.     

高功率超宽谱脉冲产生实验

介绍了纳秒传输线充电技术的原理,利用该原理设计了高功率超宽谱脉冲产生实验装置,通过电路模拟计算分析了实验装置的工作过程。结合1.2 MV高压脉冲电源开展了实验,实验中对输出脉冲形状、输出脉冲功率和工作稳定性进行了调试,在2.7 Ω负载上获得输出功率大于30 GW,脉冲宽度1.6 ns,重复频率100 Hz。系统运行稳定,达到设计要求。     

Linearization of Mach-Zehnder modulator using microring-based all-pass filter

By applying the microring resonator to the Mach-Zehnder (MZ) optical modulator and employing the super-linear phase change characteristic of the all-pass filter, the sublinear modulation curve of the conventional MZ modulator is highly linearized. With properly controlled power coupling between the microring and the arm of the MZ modulator, the third-order distortion can be suppressed. If the transmission coefficient is set between 0.25 and 0.42, the linearity range larger than 90% can be easily achieved. The maximum linearity range is even up to 99.5%.     

Optical pulse generation from FM laser using gain dispersion

The possibility of new type of optical pulse compression utilizing dispersion effect of laser gain is discussed. An experiment using a 1.06 μm Nd:YAG laser for a dispersive delay line was performed to demonstrate the possibility, where cw FM laser, instead of frequency-swept pulses, was e,ployed. The FM laser of 100 GHz bandwidth at 144 MHz repetition frequency, which was generated from another Nd:YAG laser, was observed to pulsate with 1.2 ns pulsewidth after passing through the dispersive delay line consisting of laser medium. Several times power amplification due to the laser gain was also obtained in the dispersive delay line.     

Generation of radio signals using a novel Mach-Zehnder modulator with four arms

We have proposed and demonstrated a novel Mach-Zehnder modulation technique which employs a 1 × 4 multimode interference MMI coupler and four optical phase-modulator waveguides to generate optical single sideband (SSB) signals in radio-over-fiber (ROF) transmission link. It is shown that when the RF (radio frequency) modulation index is large, the optical SSB signal generated by conventional modulation scheme contains a significant part of undesired higher order harmonics, accordingly, much distortion in the RF signal was detected at the base station (BS). However, the main undesired higher order harmonics can be suppressed using our proposed modulation scheme and the performance of the transmission links were largely improved in single-channel and dense wavelength-division multiplexing (DWDM) cases.     

Optical mm-wave generation by using external modulator based on optical carrier suppression

In this paper, we have theoretically investigated the transmission performance of the optical millimeter (mm)-wave generated by using an external modulator based on optical carrier suppression for the first time. According to our theory, the data signals carried by the optical mm-wave are transmitted in the dispersion fiber without fading but are degraded greatly because of the time shift of the code edges, which still limits the transmission distance. The experimental results agree well with our theory.     

基于双平行马赫曾德调制器的动态可调光载波边带比光单边带调制：理论分析与实验研究

理论分析并实验研究了一种基于双平行马赫曾德调制器(DP-MZM)具有动态光载波边带比(OCSR)调谐能力的光单边带(OSSB) 调制实现方案, 方案利用DP-MZM内部集成的三个独立的调制单元, 分别实现OSSB调制、光载波移相和光信号干涉, 最终, 仅需改变调制器的一个偏置点, 就实现了OCSR的动态调谐, 实验得到了小信号调制(调制系数m=0.2)下, OCSR的可调范围-20.8–23.5 dB. 并分析了OCSR与射频功率之间的对应关系, 通过本方案调谐至最佳的OCSR可提高模拟光链路接收灵敏度. 关键词： 光纤通信 微波光子 光载波边带比 光单边带调制     

Nanosecond polymer Mach-Zehnder interferometer electro-optic modulator using optimized micro-strip line electrode

A Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) electro-optic (EO) modulator based on micro-strip line (MSL) electrode and guest-host EO polymer DR1/SU-8 is experimentally demonstrated. For achieving high response speed, electrode structure is especially optimized and fabrication technology is seriously controlled. The final characteristic impedance of electrode is about 49.4 Ω, and the difference between microwave index (1.5616) and lightwave index (1.6006) is also minimized. At 1,550 nm, the insertion loss and extinction ratio are 12 and 16 dB, respectively, and under switching operation, the rise time and fall time are 16.3 and 16.7 ns, respectively. A long-term monitoring over 2000 hours at room temperature (25 °C) is performed on switching response, and a novel mathematical modeling on response time variation is established using logistic function. The rise time and fall time are observed to change from the initial value of ~16 ns to the stable value of ~28 ns within 300 and 2000 hours, respectively. The device exhibits nanosecond response time by virtue of impedance-matched electrode, small index mismatch and serious control on fabrication process.     

Ten gigabits per second 16-level quadrature amplitude modulated millimeter-wave carrier generation using dual-drive Mach-Zehnder modulators incorporated photonic-vector modulator

A novel photonic-vector modulator architecture for the generation of 16 quadrature amplitude modulation (16 QAM) millimeter-wave carriers using dual-drive Mach-Zehnder modulators is proposed. Experimental generation of 5 Gbits/s 4 amplitude shift-keying (4 ASK) and 10 Gbits/s 16 QAM modulated 42 GHz carriers is reported. The multilevel modulated millimeter-wave signals are demodulated using an electrical receiver and its error-vector magnitude (EVM) estimated from the measurements, obtaining EVMs of -21.04 and -18.33 dB for 4 ASK and 16 QAM modulation formats, respectively.     

Performance investigation of 110-Gbps optical MSK system using a Quad Mach-Zehnder IQ modulator

In this paper, numerical simulation is conducted to investigate the generation, transmission and detection of a 110 Gbps optical Minimum Shift Keying (MSK) signal. The transmitter has been designed using a Quad Mach-Zehnder IQ Modulator. At the transmitter, a 110 Gbps optical MSK signal with constant envelope and a continuous phase is generated by combining signals of I-arm and \(90^\circ\) phase shifted of Q-arm. Error-free transmission of 110 Gbps optical MSK signal is achieved after traversing a distance of 240 km, also a comparison is made with respect to Differential Phase Shift Keying (DPSK) to show its effectiveness. At the receiver side, the original signal is recovered through a balanced detection method, with a power penalty of around 3.34 dB. Also, BER curves of different bit rates for MSK are studied ranging from 40 to 120 Gbps and found that maximum 110 Gbps can be achieved error-free. The optical spectrum of both MSK and DPSK signals are observed and found that MSK is having narrower main lobes with smaller side lobes compared with that of DPSK, which in turn results in an increase in spectral efficiency and reduction in intersymbol interference.