Non-linear effects of intensity-modulated and directly detected optical links on receiving a linear frequency-modulated waveform

Limitations imposed by the non-linearity of optical links, in the front end of a receiving array antenna, on the performance of a pulse compression radar are studied. Particularly linear frequency-modulated waveforms backscattered from a pair of targets are inspected. Inter-modulation and gain compression by noise are presented as two remarkable phenomena. For an interconnection of two dual-drive Mach-Zehnder modulators, the sensitivity of the compressed echo at the output of a matched filter receiver to certain tunable parameters is studied numerically. Finally, certain values of DC bias and phase shift between the modulators- electrodes are recommended.