Work

Effect of counter-phase pump modulation of phase-sensitive amplifiers noise performance and SBS suppression

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Optical phase-sensitive amplifiers (PSAs) leverage nonlinear interactions to achieve noise figures below the conventional quantum limit. Dual-pump phase-insensitive amplification has been studied in wavelength conversion, phase conjugation and spectral inversion, but phase-sensitive amplification remains challenging due to stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) in optical fibers. While pump-phase modulation helps mitigate SBS, it broadens the idler spectrum, complicating practical implementation. We demonstrate a counter-phase pump modulation approach to suppress idler spectral broadening using optical coherent combining and delayed self-heterodyne techniques to achieve excellent noise figure (NF) performance in dual-pump PSAs. Our methods achieve over 30 dB suppression of residual phase modulation tones and significantly improve the idler spectrum. We obtained a 20 dB gain with an NF of 1.45 dB and a minimal NF penalty of 0.2 dB due to pump-phase modulation. This achievement enables PSAs to support optical communication, wavelength conversion, and deep-space communication applications.

Source: Optics Express

DOI: 10.1364/oe.551379

Authors: Ruwan U. Weerasuriya, Rasmus Larsson, Peter A. Andrekson

Language: English

Topic: Optical Network Technologies

Subfield: Electrical and Electronic Engineering

Field: Engineering

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,270

Funder: Vetenskapsrådet

Award: Noiseless phase-sensitive optical amplifiers and their applications