Linearized Single Sideband Modulation Link With High SFDR Performance

A linearized fiber optic link without dispersion induced power fading is presented. It is based on using a dual-drive dual-polarization modulator to generate a single sideband (SSB) RF modulated optical signal and an orthogonally linear polarized unmodulated optical signal. The link is linearized and consequently the third-order spurious-free dynamic range (SFDR3) is largely increased by designing the angle of a linear polarizer connected to the modulator output to suppress the third-order intermodulation distortion. The two Mach Zehnder modulators inside the dual-polarization modulator are biased at the quadrature point. Hence, there is no degradation in the link second-order spurious-free dynamic range (SFDR2) performance compared with the conventional quadrature-biased Mach Zehnder modulator link. Experimental results demonstrate an SSB modulation link without dispersion induced power fading and a record measured SFDR3 of 121.4 dB·Hz
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