Comparison of the impact of nonlinearity in a p-i-n and an MUTC photodetector on electro-optic frequency combs
Abstract
We calculate the impact of nonlinearity in both a p - i - n photodetector (PD) and a modified uni-traveling carrier (MUTC) PD on an RF-modulated frequency comb generated using 100-fs optical pulses with a 50-MHz repetition rate. We take into account bleaching (nonlinear saturation) that is due to the high peak-to-average-power ratio and contributes to the device nonlinearity. Nonlinear impairment of an RF-modulated continuous wave is typically characterized by the second- and third-order intermodulation distortion products (IMD2 and IMD3). In contrast, an RF-modulated frequency comb must be characterized by a distinct I M D 2 n and I M D 3 n for each comb line n . We calculate I M D 2 n and I M D 3 n in both p - i - n and MUTC PDs and compare the results. We also calculate the ratio of the I M D 2 n power and the I M D 3 n power to the fundamental power S in in both p - i - n and MUTC PDs. We find that nonlinear distortion has a greater impact at high frequencies in the MUTC PD than in the p - i - n PD.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Feb 09, 2021
- Source ID
- 10.1364/ol.414026
Entities
People
- Curtis R. Menyuk
- Jason D. McKinney
- Keith J. Williams
- Seyed Ehsan Jamali Mahabadi
- Thomas F. Carruthers
Organizations
- United States Naval Research Laboratory