Reduction of Measurement Error of Optical Vector Network Analyzer Based on DPMZM

We propose a new method to reduce the measurement error of an optical vector network analyzer (OVNA) based on a dual-parallel Mach-Zehnder modulator (DPMZM). Even-order sidebands suppressed single-sideband modulation is realized by the joint use of the DPMZM and an optical filter. The transmission response of a device-under-test is characterized based on one-to-one mapping between the optical and electrical domains. The measurement error is significantly reduced because the even-order sidebands, which are the dominant error source, are suppressed. The proposed scheme is theoretically analyzed and experimentally verified. The experimental results show that the proposed OVNA has excellent measurement accuracy and improved dynamic range.