The Performance of a Fiber-Optic Link Using Unbiased Balanced Photodiodes for Antenna Array Calibration

A quadrature-biased dual-output Mach-Zehnder modulator is used to drive unbiased balanced photodiodes for use in antenna array applications. The RF gain is measured as a function of frequency and photocurrent. Balanced photodiode two-tone measurements at 6 GHz are compared with those of a single pho...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:IEEE transactions on microwave theory and techniques 2012-01, Vol.60 (1), p.195-200
Main Authors: Diehl, J. F., Urick, V. J., McDermitt, C. S., Bucholtz, F., Devgan, P. S., Williams, K. J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Antenna arrays
Antennas
Applied sciences
Arrays
Balanced photodiodes
Balancing
Calibration
Circuit properties
Dynamical systems
Electric, optical and optoelectronic circuits
Electronic circuits
Electronics
Exact sciences and technology
Fiber optics
Gain
microwave photonics
Optical distortion
Optical fibers
Phase error
Photoconductivity
Photodiodes
Photoelectric effect
Radio frequency
Radiocommunications
Signal convertors
Telecommunications
Telecommunications and information theory
unbiased
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Summary:A quadrature-biased dual-output Mach-Zehnder modulator is used to drive unbiased balanced photodiodes for use in antenna array applications. The RF gain is measured as a function of frequency and photocurrent. Balanced photodiode two-tone measurements at 6 GHz are compared with those of a single photodiode to show 26-dB suppression of the second-order distortion. This results in a second-order limited spur-free dynamic-range improvement of 12 dB. The phase error introduced in unbiased photodiodes is compared to that of the biased case to demonstrate that it would have minimal effect on the performance of the antenna array system.
ISSN:0018-9480
1557-9670
DOI:10.1109/TMTT.2011.2175238