Design and performance of the bidirectional optical single-sideband modulator

Abstract

We present a detailed study of the design and performance of the bidirectional optical single-sideband modulator (BOSSM). This is a new scheme to achieve optical single-sideband modulation (OSSB) that uses a standard single-electrode Mach-Zehnder modulator (MZ-EOM) and passive fiber-optic components. The design is based on a novel technique to operate electrooptic modulators in which the radio frequency (RF) electrode is bidirectionally driven. The fundamentals of this bidirectional operation are analyzed thoroughly and it is found that it requires the use of a wide-bandwidth MZ-EOM with an electrode design that provides good velocity match between the optical and microwave modes. Deriving t..