Intensity Noise Reduction Research Articles

Pump-to-Stokes transfer of relative intensity noise in Brillouin fiber ring lasers

We have experimentally investigated pump-to-Stokes intensity noise transfer in both the frequency domain and the time domain in all-fiber single-frequency Brillouin ring lasers. In the high-frequency region (>1MHz), the pump-to-Stokes noise transfer function can be much smaller than unity, indicating that the Brillouin fiber lasers act as an efficient low-pass filter. The maximum noise reduction of 40-60 dB was observed at antiresonant frequencies that are multiples of half the cavity free spectral range. This is the first experimental demonstration, to the authors' knowledge, of intensity noise reduction in Brillouin fiber lasers.

Intensity noise reduction in a multiwavelength distributed Bragg reflector fiber laser

Noise reduction in a multiwavelength distributed Bragg reflector fiber laser was demonstrated. A 20 dB reduction of in-phase intensity noise was achieved by using negative feedback to modulate the drive current of the laser pump diode. Strategies for reducing antiphase noise components are discussed.

Highly stable low-noise Brillouin fiber laser with ultranarrow spectral linewidth

We demonstrate an all-fiber high-power single-frequency Brillouin fiber ring laser with maximum power of 100 mW at 1.55 mum, which is actively stabilized by using the Pound-Drever-Hall frequency-locking scheme. Significant reduction (~20dB) of both relative intensity noise and frequency noise was observed in the Brillouin Stokes radiation as compared with those noises of its pump source, a narrow-linewidth Er-doped fiber laser. Ultranarrow spectral linewidth of the Brillouin fiber lasers was investigated by both delayed self-heterodyne technique and heterodyne beat technique between two independent Brillouin fiber lasers

Intensity and frequency noise reduction of a Nd:YAG NPRO via pump light stabilisation

We have shown that pump light intensity stabilisation of a single-mode laser diode pumped Nd:YAG non-planar ring oscillator (NPRO) results in significant intensity noise reduction of the NPRO, as well as frequency noise suppression in the same order of magnitude. This effect does not occur in conventional laser diode array pumped NPROs due to mode beating effects originating in the multi-mode pump. As opposed to individual intensity and frequency stabilisation, pump light stabilisation contributes a simplified stabilisation scheme for single-mode laser diode pumped NPROs for high precision applications.

Permuted M-matrices for the reduction of phase-induced intensity noise in optical CDMA network

Two codeword families and the corresponding encoder/decoder schemes are present for spatial/frequency optical code-division multiple-access communications. These 2-D codewords have multiple weights per row and can be encoded/decoded via compact hardware. With the proposed decoding mechanism, the intended user will reject interfering users and multiple-access interference is fully eliminated. In addition, the power of the same wavelength contributed by all interfering codewords is split and detected by distinct photodiodes in the decoder. Thus the performance degradation due to the beat noise arising in the photodetecting process is improved, as compared with the traditional 1-D coding scheme, and a larger number of active users is supported under a given bit-error rate.

Light intensity-voltage correlations and leakage-current excess noise in a single-mode semiconductor laser

Semiconductor lasers are particularly well suited for the implementation of pump-noise suppression, yielding a reduction of the intensity noise in the laser. In this simple picture, the maximal amount of squeezing is equal to the quantum efficiency. However, experimental results on intensity noise reduction by pump-noise suppression are usually above this limit. This discrepancy suggests that additional noise sources must be involved. Here we successfuly interpret the full noise behavior of a single-mode laser diode far above threshold by considering two excess noise sources: the leakage current fluctuations across the laser and the Petermann excess noise. We have estimated the contribution of each noise source using the results of the correlations between the laser output intensity noise and the voltage fluctuations across the laser diode (light-voltage correlations) and obtained good agreement between our theory and experimental results.

PSK self-homodyne detection using a pilot carrier for multibit/symbol transmission with inverse-RZ signal

Phase-shift-keying (PSK) self-homodyne modulation and demodulation using a polarization-multiplexed pilot-carrier with an inverse-return-to-zero (RZ) intensity modulation signal for 2-bit/symbol transmission at 20 Gb/s was demonstrated. The pilot-carrier was generated by polarization-modulation in an orthogonal polarization state with respect to a PSK signal in the transmitter, while its polarization state was rotated by 90/spl deg/ in a LiNbO/sub 3/-based hybrid module for homodyne detection in the receiver. We confirm that the proposed self-homodyne detection scheme is insensitive to cross-modulation degradation by an inverse-RZ signal with high extinction ratio, thanks to an intensity-noise reduction capability of more than 15 dB in the homodyne-balanced receiver. The proposed scheme offers robust PSK homodyne detection for multibit per symbol formats without using a complex optical phase-locked loop.

Optimal intensity noise reduction in multimode vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers by polarization-selective attenuation.

We study in detail the effect of the anticorrelation of the polarization modes on the total intensity noise of a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser. We show that small polarization-dependent losses can greatly improve the total intensity noise, and we determine and experimentally demonstrate the conditions necessary for optimal intensity noise reduction.

Mode-locking characteristics and relative intensity noise reduction in hybrid soliton pulse source

The noise and mode-locking phenomena of a hybrid soliton pulse source (HSPS) utilizing different fiber Bragg gratings (FBG) with or without linear chirp are described. The HSPS is modeled by a time-domain solution of the coupled-mode equations including spontaneous emission noise, and relative intensity noise ( RIN ) is calculated using numerical solutions of these equations. It is found that transform-limited pulses over a wide tuning range around the fundamental mode-locking frequency are generated from mode-locked HSPS with linearly chirped uniform and Gaussian apodized FBGs. Mode-locked pulses that are not transform-limited are generated over a wide tuning range from HSPS with Gaussian apodized and uniform FBGs. These gratings can give transform-limited pulses only over a limited tuning range around the fundamental mode-locking frequency. It is also found that RIN reduction is possible for the mode-locked HSPS by selecting a suitable apodization function such as Gaussian and linear chirp rate.

Reduction of optical intensity noise by means of two-photon absorption

We demonstrate an all-optical intensity noise reduction technique by using two-photon absorption of ZnSe in a Z-scan configuration. We measure the nonlinear transmission and the shot-to-shot energy fluctuations of 860-nm intense femtosecond laser pulses. At a 40% nonlinear transmission level the noise in the pulse train is reduced to 24%. This yields an additional 40% reduction in the relative pulse energy fluctuation. A realistic theoretical treatment is presented and is found to be in good agreement with experimental results.

Suppression of intensity noise of a laser-diode-pumped single-frequency Nd:YVO4 laser by optoelectronic control.

The intensity-noise reduction of a laser-diode-pumped single-frequency ring Nd:YVO4 laser when different optoelectronic control systems are used is theoretically and experimentally investigated. It has been demonstrated that combining two techniques, optoelectronic feedback control of the drive current of the pump laser diode and feed-forward control of the output laser beam, is a good way to significantly suppress the intensity noise of a laser at low frequency.

Electronic feedback control of the intensity noise of a single-frequency intracavity-doubled laser

We present a fully quantum model to process the intensity noise reduction of a single-frequency intracavity-doubled laser with an electronic feedback loop connected directly to the pump current of a laser diode. Adding an electronic feedback term to the quantum Langevin equations for a free-running single-frequency-doubling laser yields an analytical expression for the intensity noise spectrum of this system. Our previous experimental results with a Nd:YVO4/KTP green laser are basically in agreement with the theoretical calculation.

Demonstration of extinction ratio improvement from 2 to 9 dB and intensity noise reduction with the MZI-GCSOA all-optical 2R regenerator

In this letter, we experimentally demonstrate improved static and dynamic characteristics of the all-optical 2R regenerator based on a Mach-Zehnder interferometer with gain-clamped semiconductor optical amplifiers. A true digital-like optical decision characteristic with an adjustable decision threshold has been found. A tremendous noise suppression at the logic 0 and a large improvement in the extinction ratio have been obtained even for a very deteriorated input signal with small extinction ratio at a bit rate of 2.488 Gb/s. An 8-dB improvement in extinction ratio can be achieved for an input extinction ratio of 5- and 7-dB improvement for an input extinction ratio of 2 dB. Furthermore, a good regeneration is achieved over a broad wavelength range of 20 nm.

Analysis and optimization of intensity noise reduction in spectrum-sliced WDM systems using a saturated semiconductor optical amplifier

Theoretical and experimental results on the reduction of the intensity noise in spectrum-sliced wavelength-division-multiplexing systems using a saturated semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) are presented. The influence of the injected current and the input power to the saturated SOA on the noise reduction and its bandwidth are studied. The optimum condition for a high noise suppression ratio and a large bandwidth is derived. For the optimum operation of the SOA, an increase of 13.5 dB in the intensity-noise-limited signal-to-noise ratio for a bitrate of 2.488 Gb/s and of 17.5 dB for a bitrate of 622 Mb/s are obtained experimentally in a single-stage SOA.

Influence of grating group delay ripple on the reduction of dispersion induced intensity noise in subcarrier multiplexed systems

Linearly chirped fiber Bragg gratings (LCFBGs) have been proposed as a means for reducing dispersion induced intensity noise in subcarrier multiplexed systems. We analyze the effects of group delay ripple in LCFBGs on their ability to reduce dispersion induced intensity noise. We find that for typical ripple periods from 5 to 200 pm, even a 20 ps peak-to-peak amplitude ripple, which is near state-of-the-art performance, can degrade the amount of relative intensity noise reduction provided by LCFBGs.

Characteristics of Intensity Noise Reduction of Optical Pulses Using Variable Spectral Filters and Optical Fibers

Noise reduction of optical pulses using variable spectral filters and optical fibers in the anomalous dispersion region is investigated numerically and experimentally. In the numerical analysis, quantum noise evolution of the optical pulse is calculated using a quantized nonlinear Schrödinger equation and linearization approximation. It is shown that when the optical spectrum is in the broadening process, photon-number squeezing can be obtained using a band-pass filter. On the other hand, when the optical spectrum is in the narrowing process, a correlated pulse pair is generated using a band-rejection filter and photon number squeezing can be also observed. In the experiment, the characteristics of noise reduction of optical pulses are investigated using a passively mode-locked fiber laser at 1.55 µm and a variable spectral filter. Noise distribution of optical pulses changes periodically as the fiber input power is changed. Intensity noise of the fiber laser is reduced by as much as 23 dB using the band-pass filter and is slightly reduced below the shot noise level. Using the band-rejection filter, the noise reduction by the correlated pulse pair is confirmed. The characteristics of the experimental results are almost in agreement with those of the numerical ones.

SNR enhancement of intensity noise-limited FOGs

The signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of fiber-optic gyroscopes (FOGs) is directly impacted by the optical power coupled to the interferometric circuit. The optical intensity noise produced by the optical broadband source becomes the major component of the total noise at the output when the optical power reaching the detector is more than a few tens of microwatts. This work shows the implementation of a signal processing scheme capable of promoting reduction of the source intensity noise around the proper frequency of birefringent FOG, where the optimum signal demodulation takes place, yielding a better SNR. The total SNR has been enhanced 6.6 dB by means of a 20.4 dB reduction in the noise component associated only with the source intensity noise.

Intensity noise reduction of twin beams by a passive semiconductor medium

Abstract A passive optical system is proposed to explore the intensity quantum correlation of two twin beams to reduce the photon noise of one of them. It consists of using a semiconductor medium inside an optical cavity, which behaves as a nonlinear medium presenting a crossed Kerr effect. The intensity fluctuations of one beam modify the resonance condition of the cavity for the other beam and therefore its intensity. The medium is described microscopically within the two-level atom model. It is shown that, under typical experimental conditions, this system may produce noise reduction.

Intensity noise reduction of twin beams by a passive semiconductor medium

A passive optical system is proposed to explore the intensity quantum correlation of two twin beams to reduce the photon noise of one of them. It consists of using a semiconductor medium inside an optical cavity, which behaves as a nonlinear medium presenting a crossed Kerr effect. The intensity fluctuations of one beam modify the resonance condition of the cavity for the other beam and therefore its intensity. The medium is described microscopically within the two-level atom model. It is shown that, under typical experimental conditions, this system may produce noise reduction.

Dynamic quantum noise reduction in a Λ quantum-beat laser

We investigate the effect of some incoherent steps on the intensity fluctuations in the four-level Λ quantum-beat laser. It is demonstrated that such a four-level system can produce a squeezed two-mode laser. For the light coming out of this device we may achieve up to 50% intensity noise reduction. A simple physical explanation of the squeezing mechanism for two-mode squeezing is given.