Numerically Simulated Comparison of RF Frequencies Generation by Up-conversion using Photonic Mixing in Semiconductor Optical Amplifiers

This work deals with the use of a single SOA and a MZI-SOA as devices to perform photonic mixing and then RF generation by frequency up-conversion. Although the devices are photonic, the Advanced System Design (ADS) software is used to numerically simulate the converted RF gain and Cross Gain Modulation/Cross Phase Modulation (XGM/XPM) bandwidth. The simulations were carried out as function of bias current by mixing two optical input signals with wavelengths around 1550 nm. Finally, a comparison between both devices showed that the SOA-MZI resulted in 1dB higher on average than single-SOA in RF conversion gain.