Noise and Distortion analysis of a

microwave fiber-optic links

* * , **
M. Zahzouh , C. Rumeihard , P. Dueme , M. Schaller and Y. Alayh
** .***

*CNJ\]4Ct Laboratory : 292, rue Saint-Martin, 75141 Paris, France

**Dlt Electronique : 55 quai Marcel Dassault, 92214 Saint Cloud, France
***
UTC : BP 649, 60206 Compiegne, France

ABSTRACT

This paper describes an analysis of directly modulated fiber-optic links using an active matching. Two MMICs amplifiers
have been used as post-amplifier for transmitter and preamplifier for receiver. A large signal laser diode model is used as
transmitter. An active matching is obtained between 50 and both a low impedance of laser and a high impedance of
photodiode. The simulated performances of fiber-optic links are presented in terms of gain, bandwidth, noise figure and
distortion, in the range : 0.1-20 GHz. The noise figure has been reduced by using an active matching of fiber-optic links, also
the bandwidth and gain have been increased.

Keywords : fiber-optic links, MMICs amplifiers, active matching, noise figure, gain, distortion

1 . INTRODUCTION

Fiber-optic links are increasingly being used for many analog communication applications1 such as radar, satellite
communication and active phased array antenna. These applications are limited by matching, insertion loss and poor
dynamic. The impact of gain, noise figure and distortion becomes increasingly important to fiber-optic links performance. In
high-speed fiber-optic systems, it is very important to maximize the performances of matching optical front end circuit of
photodiode and broadband laser command circuit. The matching of fiber-optic links has been studied in passive
configuration by many authors 10.
In this paper, microwave fiber-optic links using an active matching approach are presented. The two MMICs amplifiers have
been designed by DASSAULT-ELECTRONIQUE4 and manufactured with the VLNO2/HEMT process from
THOMSON/TCS. The fiber-optic model includes processing component for the links performance optimization. The
simulated results of gain, noise figure and distortion analysis for fiber-optic links model are presented. A comparison
between two configurations of fiber-optic links (i.e., with and without amplifiers) is presented in term of bandwidth, gain and
noise figure. Also, intennodulation of the links is presented. In the active matching approach, the gain and the noise of fiber-
optic links have been improved.

Part of the SP1E Conference on Physics and Simulation of Ootoelectronic Devices VI

990 San Jose. California . January 1998 SPIE Vol. 3283 • 0277-786X/981$l0.00
 2. FIBER-OPTIC LINK MODEL

The schematic of fiber-optic link model using an adaptative matching is presented in figure 1 . This optical link model
consists of a distributed amplifier, a large signal laser diode, an optical fiber, a photodiode and a transimpedance amplifier.
The laser driver consists of a distributed amplifier (DA) with four HEMT transistors4. It presents a low output impedance
(10 Q) and is matched with the low input impedance of laser. The distributed amplifier and laser has been directly
interconnected in order to reduce parasitic elements.

p;cL iq I ibir pbDI,d i ,I. ip IiI

UUKU
ACRIIII

Figure 1 : schematic of fiber-optic link model with adaptative matching

The transmitter is a large signal laser diode model. This laser can be separated in two main parts : (i) the active zone, (ii) the
parasitic of the chip and the package. The equivalent circuit of active zone is obtained through the rate equations of photon
density and electron density 2• For frequency domain simulator, it is better to express these equations between spontaneous
emission current (Isp) and photon density (S) as:

tndIj I - 'st - Isp (1)

qv - = jst + F3 Isp - qv (2)

The spontaneous current is defmed as : Isp = n ; where : v is the volume of the active zone, rn is the spontaneous

emission lifetime, n is the electron density and f3 is the fraction of the spontaneous emission coupled into the laser mode.
The stimulated current 'st which is a function of spontaneous current Isp is expressed as:
s,
1st = a(Isp - Jo) - (3)
bS'

Where: a = ['Sn go r1 ; Jo = no; S' = and b = cITSn

IT is the optical confmement factor, g0 is the optical gain, Sn is a normalization constant to balance the different parts of the
equations during the numerical computation, no is the electron density for transparency and c is the gain compression factor.

The gain compression term is slightly modified to allow for higher compression, it is defmed as: (4)
1 +1b5'

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 The electrical parasitic of the device arise from two different contributions : the package and parasitic elements. The
equivalent circuit model ofparasitic is deduced from measurements9.
For this fiber-optic system, we have introduced a fiber model which takes into account the chromatic dispersion and the
attenuation effects. The single-mode fiber can be modeled by the function described in 6 This model is introduced in the non
linear frequency domain simulator using the S13 parameters.
In fiber-optic transmission systems, it is important to minimize the optical reflections from returning back through the fiber,
which otherwise could degrade the performance of the link. This effect can be takes into account this effect in this model
with the reflection coefficients S22 and S1 .
For the photodiode, the equivalent circuit model consists of the resistance and capacitor junction, and the packaging
elements. The responsivity is modeled as a current source.
At the end of the fiber-optic link, a transimpedance amplifier based on the parasitic capacitor is used. This technique is
adapted to the microwave non linear frequency domain. The capacitor is the limiting factor in terms of bandwidth because it
comes in parallel with a high impedance. The transimpedance amplifier techniques create a feedback loop aimed at canceling
the voltage across the photodiode. The amplifier has a high input impedance. Experiments associating the amplifier chip with
fast photodiode have been carried out at the IEMN-Lille and validate the results ofthe simulation 8

3. ANALYSIS RESULTS

3-1. Gain
The small-signal responses for two biasing cunents of large-signal laser diode has been simulated in the range of 0. 1-20 GHz
and is shown in figure 2. The threshold current is nearly 20 mA and the bandwidth upper 8 GHz.

I,o MHz rquniy IIizI cHZE

Figure 2 : Frequency response oflaser diode in the range : 0. 1-20 GHz

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Simulated gain of the distributed amplifier (DA) is in good agreement with measurements 4. A 7 +1- 0.5 dB gain with less
than 8 dB input and output return losses has been obtained in the range of 0. 1-20 GHz, with 50Q at the input and 10 Q at
the output.
Figure 3 shows the simulated gain and the bandwidth for two configurations of fiber-optic links, using the same non linear
laser diode, optical fiber and photodiode
-the laser and the photodiode are connected to the 50 ) ports
-the distributed amplifier (DA) and the transimpedance amplifier (TA) are connected before the laser and after the
photodiode respectively

It is shown (fig 3) that the gain of fiber-optic links using the two amplifiers (DA and TA) is increased. For example, at 10
GHz the gain is 9 dB more than the value without amplifiers. For fiber-optic links, a 3 dB bandwidth of 10 GHz is observed.
These simulated results shows the improvement of links performances by using an active matching.

Frsu.cy CHzI

Figure 3 : Comparison between simulated gain for fiber-optic link with amplifiers (--)
and fiber-optic link without amplifiers (x) in the range : 0. 1-20 GHz

3.2. Noise Figure

In directly modulated links, the noise figure has been another important parameter of fiber-optic links performances.
The noise figure of the link can be expressed as : F = 10 log [ -j I
N0
(5)

where : No is the output noise power, Ni is the input noise power and G is the gain of the link.

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 The modeling and the simulation of the noise figure is realized in frequency domain simulator using the complete schematic
of fiber-optic links (fig 1). We have taken into account the noise of all components for the fiber-optic links:
-relative intensity noise and thermal noise, for the laser,
-noise of FET transistors and thermal noise, for the amplifiers (DA and TA),
-shot noise and thermal noise, for the photodiode.
Also, attenuation and dispersion of the fiber is taking into account in the analysis.

The noise in the directly modulated laser output beams comes from the relative intensity noise (RIN) and the thermal noise
from the parasitic resistances. The R1N is a function of the biasing current and the modulation frequency. For biasing current
of 30 mA and 60 mA, the values of RIN varied between - 130 dB/Hz and - 145 dB/Hz with a resonance at 6 GHz and 8 GHz
respectively 6
For the photodiode, the total mean square noise current can be expressed as:
kT0B
<I2 >21ph R (6)
where : Iph is the photocurrent, k is the Boltzman constant, B is the bandwidth, To is the temperature and R is the detector
resistance.

Figure 4 represents the simulated noise figure (NF) for two configurations of fiber-optic links:
-the laser and the photodiode are connected to the 50 Q ports
-the distributed amplifier (DA) and transimpedance amplifier (TA) are connected before the laser and after the
photodiode respectively

liii K ii*k.ui .plii.r

-.— ——

. $

nthUim
Fr.qu.nc icazI

Figure 4 : Comparison between simulated noise figure for fiber-optic link with amplifiers (--)
and fiber-optic link without amplifiers (x) in the range : 0.1-20 GHz

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Minimization of noise figure for fiber-optic links has been very important for many applications (radar,
telecommunication...). We can observed in figure 4, that the noise figure (NF) is reduced using both distributed and
transimpedance amplifiers. In the frequency range of 0.1- 20 GHz, the minimum NF is nearly 12 dB. This is an important
advantage ofusing adaptative matching links.

3.3. Intermodulation
Distortion has been the most important parameter in determining the utility of fiber-optic links for most applications1. Any
nonlinearity in the high-speed fiber-optic links introduces intermodulation and distortion in the output signals, possibly
degrading the noise figure and reducing the power budget of the link. The third order intermodulation distortion of fiber-
optic links can be simulated by modulating the injection current at two different frequencies (w i and o2). For a non linear
system, intermodulation overtones will appear at Fl + F2, 2F1 - F2, 2F2 - Fl, along with the harmonics generated by each of

the fundamentals. The magnitude of these distortion products expressed in dBm have a slope of 3 when the output power is
plotted against the input power. For fiber-optic links, the third-order intercept point is used to calculate the dynamic range9.

The simulated third order intermodulation (TOT) of fiber-optic links without amplifiers for biasing current of 60 mA and for
fundamental frequencies at : Fl 4.95 GHz and F2 = 5.05 GHz, are shown in figure 5. We observed that the third order
intermodulation point is nearly 15 dBm.

Al

El

-*—*—-"-
/inter - 3 :2*fl—f=5.15Ghz

—2 0. DE+i?O 20. DE+QlA

input power (dhm B

Figure 5 : Third-order intermodulation analysis of fiber-optic links

for biasing current of 60 mA

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 4- CONCLUSION

A large-signal analysis of microwave fiber-optic links with adaptative matching has been demonstrated and is implemented
in frequency-domain simulator. The simulated link performances in tenns of gain, bandwidth, noise figure and
intermodulation have been presented. The use of the distributed amplifier (DA) and the transimpedance amplifier (TA) have
improved the link performances in term of gain, bandwidth, reflection coefficients and noise figure. In this configuration, the
gain has been increased to 9 dB and the noise figure decreased with minimum NF at 12 dB. In the next step, we will analyze
the dynamic range of the fiber-optic links using the adaptative matching.

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