Comparison of two photonic sampling mixer architectures based on SOA-MZI for all-optical frequency up-conversion

An experimental comparison of the conversion gain and harmonic distortion performance between Switching and Modulation architectures of an all-optical photonic sampler mixer up-converter using a Semiconductor Optical Amplifier-based Mach-Zehnder Interferometer (SOA-MZI) is presented. The process of frequency up-conversion from 1 GHz to 9 GHz is evaluated. Because of their different principle of operation, the Switching architecture demonstrates higher positive conversion gain by approximately 6 dB and 8 dB for standard and differential configuration, respectively, while the Modulation architecture achieves lower harmonic distortion up to 8 dB, depending on the modulation index of the 1 GHz signal.