Nonlinear Properties of Traveling-Wave Electroabsorption Modulator

Abstract

Abstract-We report the nonlinear properties of traveling-wave electroabsorption modulators experimentally and theoretically. The saturation characteristics of the dc transfer curve give rise to the superlinear, linear, and sublinear properties of output signal levels against the input signal levels. The dynamic behavior of the transmission curves for a wide range of the input radio-frequency signal levels can be described using the dc transfer curve and the fast Fourier transform algorithm.

Characterization of nonlinearity using polynomial transfer function of all‐optical sampling

“…The former represents the signal promotion, whereas the latter reflects the signal distortion. In most cases, a sinusoidal signal is input as the analog signal to be sampled and the harmonics of the output signal are measured for comparison, from which the nonlinearity can be evaluated [7–9]; however, spectrum measurement should be executed for both input and output signal once the input signal is updated, which is not suitable for properly choosing the operating parameters in advance.…”

RF power-dependent linear characterization of electroabsorption modulators

“…The traveling-wave electroabsorption modulator (TW-EAM) has been widely studied because of the wide-bandwidth, small-size and integrability to other electronic devices. The TW-EAM with a multiple-quantum-well (MQW) structure has prominent characteristics for analog applications, and the nonlinear properties of the device have recently been reported [1].…”

“…The nonlinear characteristics are usually analyzed from the curve or the transfer function. There are two linear points named super-linear and sub-linear region [1]. We have reported the abnormal notches in the IMD3 results from the measurement of the nonlinear property of a TW-EAM, which linear regions can not be observed from the general transfer function [3].…”

Normalized transfer function for characterizing conversion efficiency and harmonic distortion of all-optical sampling

“…In most cases, conversion efficiency and harmonic distortion are introduced to characterize the nonlinearity and optimize the sampling performance [4,5]. The conversion efficiency represents the signal promotion, while the harmonic distortion reflects the signal distortion.…”