Graphical solution for RF half-wave voltage and chirp parameter of electrooptic modulators using optical spectrum analysis

A graphical approach is presented to determine simultaneously both chirp parameter and high-frequency half-wave voltage of electrooptic Mach-Zehnder modulators with a single optical spectrum analyzer (OSA) measurement. Using this method, the radio-frequency half-wave voltage and chirp parameter are directly obtained from the OSA sideband intensity ratio contour plot that greatly simplifies data calculation. Measurement examples are demonstrated using this graphical approach.