Impact of pump-phase noise in PPLN-based optical parametric amplifier and wavelength converter for digital coherent transmission

Abstract

Wideband signal amplification and optical signal processing with a high gain using an optical parametric amplifier based on a periodically poled LiNbO3 (PPLN) waveguide is attractive for constructing wideband optical fiber networks. We experimentally investigate the transfer characteristics of the phase noise of a pump laser in χ(2)-based optical parametric amplification and wavelength conversion on the basis of second-harmonic-generation and differential-frequency-generation processes. We also evaluate the effect of the transferred phase noise on signal quality in dispersion-unmanaged digital coherent fiber transmission systems. We show that the phase noise is transferred only to the wavelength-converted idler and does not affect the amplified signal even by using a pump laser with a MHz-order linewidth. We also show that the phase noise transferred to the idler light can have a similar impact on signal quality as equalization-enhanced phase noise (EEPN) in digital coherent transmission. The signal penalty including EEPN was evaluated with several pump lasers and at symbol rates of 32, 64, and 96 Gbaud. We also propose a method of using correlated pump lights between a wavelength converter pair to cancel out the transfer of phase noise.