Abstract

High-frequency characterization of photodiodes and optoelectronic receivers is important for optical communications and instrumentation as optical receiver bandwidths continually increase. A number of methods have successfully demonstrated high-frequency response measurements beyond 20 GHz. These include time domain picosecond pulse techniques [1], optical heterodyne using two narrow-linewidth tunable laser sources [2] and the optical intensity noise technique [3]. The intensity noise technique is of particular interest since the optical intensity fluctuations exist simultaneously at all frequencies, allowing for quick measurement of the photodiode response. Also, the optical field polarization dependence is low, and the short source coherence length permit very stable measurements. With a straightforward setup, optical receiver measurements extending well into the millimeter wave frequency range can be performed. However, with the current intensity noise technique, measurement dynamic range is severely limited by thermal noise of the measurement instrumentation. In this paper we report on a novel technique for increasing the measurement dynamic range of high-speed photoreceiver measurements.

© 1994 Optical Society of America