Noise Figure Reduction in Externally Modulated Analog Fiber-Optic Links

An octave-bandwidth microwave photonic link with a third-order limited spurious-free dynamic range of 121 dB in a 1-Hz bandwidth has been demonstrated. The link noise figure of 9 dB at a modulation frequency of 2 GHz was achieved by using a bias-shifted Mach-Zehnder modulator with an optical input power of 500 mW. This level of performance was realized without electronic or optical linearization