Ultraflat and broadband optical frequency comb generator based on cascaded two dual-electrode Mach–Zehnder modulators

Abstract

A novel scheme for the generation of ultraflat and broadband optical frequency comb (OFC) is proposed based on cascaded two dual-electrode Mach–Zehnder modulators (DE-MZM). The first DE-MZM can generate a four-comb-line OFC, then the OFC is injected into the second DE-MZM as a carrier, which can increase the number of comb lines. Our modified scheme finally can generate a broadband OFC with high flatness by simply modifying the electrical power and the bias voltage of the DE-MZM. Theoretical analysis and simulation results reveal that a 16-comb-line OFC with a frequency spacing that two times the frequency of the RF signal can be obtained. The power fluctuation of the OFC lines is 0.48 dB and the unwanted-mode suppression ratio (UMSR) can reach 16.5 dB. Additionally, whether the bias drift of the DE-MZMs has little influence on the power fluctuation is also analyzed. These results demonstrate the robustness of our scheme and verify its good accuracy and high stability with perfect flatness.