Suppression of phase-induced intensity noise in fibre optic delay line signal processors using an optical phase modulation technique

A technique that can suppress the dominant phase-induced intensity noise in fibre optic delay line signal processors is presented. It is based on phase modulation of the optical carrier to distribute the phase noise at the information band into a high frequency band which can be filtered out. This technique is suitable for suppressing the phase noise in various delay line structures and for integrating in the conventional fibre optic links. It can also suppress the coherent interference effect at the same time. A model for predicting the amount of phase noise reduction in various delay line structures using the optical phase modulation technique is presented for the first time and is experimentally verified. Experimental results demonstrate the technique can achieve a large phase noise reduction in various fibre optic delay line signal processors. (C) 2010 Optical Society of America