Experimental Demonstration of a Balanced Electroabsorption Modulated Microwave

Abstract—A novel balanced electroabsorption modulated pho-tonic link for simultaneous suppression of even-order distortions, third-order distortions, laser relative intensity noise (RIN), and common amplified spontaneous emission noise at the same modu-lator bias point was experimentally demonstrated for the first time. By biasing the balanced electroabsorption modulator at the third-order null, the third-order distortions were suppressed, while the balanced link architecture suppressed all even-order distortions and common mode noises. The fabricated balanced electroabsorp-tion modulator (B-EAM) showed well-matched dc characteristics in terms of – and transfer curve. System experiments were per-formed to compare Single-EAM and B-EAM links. In the B-EAM link, 2-dB suppression of laser RIN and 20-dB improvement in spu-rious free dynamic range over the single-EAM link were observed. Index Terms—Balanced fiber-optic links, distortion suppres-sion, electroabsorption modulator, intermodulation distortion, microwave photonics, relative intensity noise suppression. I