FPGA-based pulsed laser with high modulation depth from Mach-Zehnder electro-optic modulator and its application

Abstract

Mach-Zehnder electro-optic modulator as the essential component of high-speed modulation in the optical fiber communication and sensing system, its stability control of operating bias-point plays a key role in determining the transmission signal quality. Based on the output characteristic principle of Mach-Zehnder electro-optic modulator, researches on its bias-point drifting for causing the reduction mechanism of modulation depth and extinction ratio are analyzed. Switching its internal state machine from FPGA is proposed to automatically adjust the bias voltage in real time realizing the operating bias-point control of Mach-Zehnder electro-optic modulator, which is studied through the theoretical investigation. A pulsed laser with the temperature sensing system of fiber Bragg grating ring-down cavity based on FPGA is established experimentally to demonstrate its effectiveness. The experimental results show the modulation depth and the extinction ratio of pulsed laser are improved by 40.45% and 32.85 dB, respectively. Output characteristic curve of the sensing system is optimized, which includes the phenomenon of initial curve rise of ring-down signals and the distortion of ring-down waveform are eliminated. The good linearity, repeatability, stability and accuracy of sensing system are investigated at the continuous variation temperature from −30℃ to 30℃.