Relative intensity noise in optical heterodyning applied to millimeter-wave systems

In this paper, the impact of relative intensity noise (RIN) on optical heterodyne millimeter-wave (MMW) generation for radio-over-fiber (RoF) applications and systems is presented. The theoretical and experimental study is provided for two different techniques that generate MMW signals. The model of RIN is also presented and is in close agreement with the experimental results. The novelty and originality of this paper are the analysis of RIN in MMW frequency band, where impairments of the generated MMW carrier due to RIN are shown for the first time. The theoretical concepts and the experimental results prove that RIN appearing as side bands of MMW signal is directly generated from initial RIN at low frequency. Two significant impacts are considered: the phase noise on the beat note carrier and the frequency response of the system, in order to extract real RIN contribution.