Experimental optimization of phase noise performance of optoelectronic oscillator based on directly modulated laser

Abstract

The experimental optimization of a 10 GHz optoelectronic oscillator (OEO) based on a 1. 55 μm directly modulated distributed feedback (DFB) laser is demonstrated in this paper. The phase noise of the directly modulated laser (DML) based OEO is significantly reduced by proper selection of the laser's bias current and by using a dispersion shifted fiber as a delay line. The phase noise performance of the DML OEO achieved after optimization is close to that of a conventional OEO constructed using a commercial DFB laser and a LiNbO3 Mach-Zehnder modulator. The DML based OEO is most promising for future realization of a miniature OEO architecture with the components integrated on a semiconductor substrate. © 2012 The Author(s).