Quasi-linear Microwave Measurements for Optoelectronic Systems Analysis

Model development and analysis of optoelectronic systems increasingly needs quasi-linear and nonlinear measurements, including intermodulation distortion (IMD), compression (AM-AM and AM-PM), and related analyses. While the measurement concepts are not new, except that they occur in a modulation domain, there are additional optoelectronic-specific parameters and mechanisms that help complete the system model but that can alter uncertainties and interpretation of data. This paper explores a setup for such measurements on integrated microwave-optical systems (including RF modulation frequencies to over 100 GHz) parameterized against secondary optical injection, polarization variance and bias system details with uncertainties only slightly higher than in classical microwave/mm-wave setups.