Realization of a 10-µm homodyne receiver

We have realized a homodyne receiver for phase-modulated laser radiation at
\lambda = 10.6 \mu
m, based on a dc-coupled optical phase-locked loop (PLL). A control loop maintains the output power of the CO
2
laser local oscillator at 0.7 mW. Fine frequency tuning of this laser is achieved by an acoustooptic frequency shifter whose inherent time delay has been taken into account in the design of both the PLL and the power control loop. The PLL rms phase error is some 3° for a received optical power of 4 nW. The HgCdTe photodiode serving as phase detector and as demodulator, as well as the preamplifier are operated at 80 K by means of a Stirling cooler. Clear domination of shot noise is achieved for the data rate of 140 Mbit/s. A microcomputer performs dc-offset compensation and frequency acquisition. The system is part of a breadboard of an intersatellite data link.