Title :
Interferometric analog-to-digital conversion scheme
Author :
Stigwall, Johan ; Galt, Sheila
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Microtechnology & Nanoscience, Chalmers Univ. of Technol., Goteborg, Sweden
Abstract :
A novel interferometric analog-to-digital converter (ADC) scheme for real-time conversion at multiple-gigahertz bandwidth is presented and theoretically analyzed. The input analog signal is applied as an optical phase modulation in one of the arms of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer and the digital output is obtained in encoded form as a set of optical intensities in the interference pattern. Particular benefits of the proposed device are its simple design which facilitates integration, the extremely high bandwidth, and the inherent 2π-periodicity that in comparison with conventional flash ADCs relaxes the demands on the comparators and allows unwrapping of the output for higher resolution.
Keywords :
Mach-Zehnder interferometers; analogue-digital conversion; encoding; optical information processing; optical modulation; phase modulation; 2π-periodicity; Mach-Zehnder interferometer; encoding; interferometric analog-to-digital converter; optical phase modulation; unwrapping; Analog-digital conversion; Arm; Bandwidth; High speed optical techniques; Optical interferometry; Optical modulation; Optical signal processing; Phase modulation; Phased arrays; Probes; Analog–digital conversion; electrooptical modulation; error correction coding; optical interferometry; phase modulation; photonic analog-to-digital converter (ADC); photonic sampling;
Journal_Title :
Photonics Technology Letters, IEEE
DOI :
10.1109/LPT.2004.839452
