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Optica

Ultralow-noise preamplified optical receiver using conventional single-wavelength transmission

Rasmus Larsson, Ruwan U. Weerasuriya, Peter A. Andrekson

Published Oct 3, 2024• 8 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Conventional optical amplifiers that use stimulated emission suffer from the generation of excess noise, thus limiting the performance in many applications. The phase-sensitive optical parametric amplifier, relying on the use of a nonlinear material for amplification, is an exception that can approach a noise figure of 0 dB. Its implementation in optical communication links has, however, been cumbersome due to increased complexity both in the transmitter and the receiver, effectively limiting the use of such amplifiers in practice. Here, we propose and demonstrate an implementation of a transmission system with exceptional performance in terms of receiver sensitivity (0.9 photons per bit) using a standalone ultralow-noise phase-sensitively preamplified receiver and a conventional single-wave optical transmitter. This is a significant simplification compared to previous demonstrations and can transform such amplifiers from a curiosity to practical use for example in deep-space-to-earth communication links.

DOI
10.1364/optica.539544

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Conventional optical amplifiers that use stimulated emission suffer from the generation of excess noise, thus limiting the performance in many applications. The phase-sensitive optical parametric amplifier, relying on the use of a nonlinear material for amplification, is an exception that can approach a noise figure of 0 dB. Its implementation in optical communication links has, however, been cumbersome due to increased complexity both in the transmitter and the receiver, effectively limiting the use of such amplifiers in practice. Here, we propose and demonstrate an implementation of a transmission system with exceptional performance in terms of receiver sensitivity (0.9 photons per bit) using a standalone ultralow-noise phase-sensitively preamplified receiver and a conventional single-wave optical transmitter. This is a significant simplification compared to previous demonstrations and can transform such amplifiers from a curiosity to practical use for example in deep-space-to-earth communication links.
Frequency nondegenerate phase-sensitive amplifiers (PSAs) have the potential to realize broadband and noiseless amplification. However, the rigorous requirement of phase- and wavelength-locking of the input waves has significantly hampered their progress. In this paper, we review recent research on this type of optical amplifier. This work is based on a copier-PSA scheme, which consists of a parametric phase-insensitive copier followed by one or more PSAs. Broadband gain and noise performance of a fiber-based nondegenerate PSA has been characterized, both theoretically and experimentally. A record-low 1.1 dB noise figure was measured at >;26 dB gain, and a clear phase dependent gain was observed. Moreover, potential applications including phase noise squeezing and ultralow noise, multichannel and modulation-format-transparent linear amplification with up to 6 dB link noise figure advantage over conventional EDFA-amplified links have been experimentally demonstrated. The prospects and practical challenges of this intriguing amplification technology are also discussed.
Optical parametric amplifiers rely on second-order susceptibility (three-wave mixing) or third-order susceptibility (four-wave mixing) in a nonlinear process where the energy of incoming photons is not changed (elastic scattering). In the latter case, two pump photons are converted to a signal and to an idler photon. Under certain conditions, related to the phase evolution of the waves involved, this conversion can be very efficient, resulting in large amplification of an input signal. As the nonlinear process can be very fast, all-optical applications aside from pure amplification are also possible. If the amplifier is implemented in an optical input-phase-sensitive manner, it is possible to amplify a signal wave without excess noise, i.e., with a noise figure of 0 dB. In this paper, we will provide the fundamental concepts and theory of such amplifiers, with a focus on their implementation in highly nonlinear optical fibers relying on four-wave mixing. We will discuss the distinctions between phase-insensitive and phase-sensitive operation and include several experimental results to illustrate their capability. Different applications of parametric amplifiers are also discussed, including their use in optical communication links.
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Optical parametric amplifiers (PAs) utilize highly efficient nonlinear effects in an optical fiber and they have the ability to operate in phase-sensitive mode. The inclusion of PAs in optical systems can give an ultimate limit for lumped amplified links in terms of achievable signal to noise ratio. The drawback is the complexity stemming from the requirement of phase matching a number of waves at each amplifier, phase lock, and the extra spectrum consumed by idler waves. In this chapter, the theories of a parametric amplifier, including the quantum-optical equations, are given. The properties of the gain saturation and the noise figure are presented. Practical amplifier systems and their applications in phase-sensitive amplification, all-optical signal regeneration, and squeeze state generation are outlined.
We demonstrate a balanced-homodyne LADAR receiver employing a phase-sensitive amplifier (PSA) to raise the effective photon detection efficiency (PDE) to nearly 100%. Since typical LADAR receivers suffer from losses in the receive optical train that routinely limit overall PDE to less than 50% thus degrading SNR, PSA can provide significant improvement through amplification with noise figure near 0 dB. Receiver inefficiencies arise from sub-unity quantum efficiency, array fill factors, signal-local oscillator mixing efficiency (in coherent receivers), etc. The quantum-enhanced LADAR receiver described herein is employed in target discrimination scenarios as well as in imaging applications. We present results showing the improvement in detection performance achieved with a PSA, and discuss the performance advantage when compared to the use of a phase-insensitive amplifier, which cannot amplify noiselessly.