Photon statistics and quantum phase distribution for coherent optical links in the presence of phase noise from both the laser source and the RF oscillator, and dispersion

Abstract

Abstract A model of photon statistics and quantum phase distribution is analyzed for coherent optical communication links in the presence of quantum phase noise, dispersion and phase noise of the radio-frequency (RF) oscillator using an in-line optical amplifier. The quantum analysis of a dual drive Mach–Zehnder modulator and the quantum transfer function for an optical field mode across an in-line amplifier is performed by taking into account both the quantum and the classical phase noises. The resulting photon statistics are compared with the semiclassical model. We analyze the quantum phase distribution by considering the Wigner quasiprobability distribution for a coherent optical link. Here, we investigate the broadening of the quantum phase distribution due to quantum phase noise of the laser, the dispersive optical fiber, the phase noise of the RF oscillator and the inevitable noise coefficient of the optical amplifier for arbitrary amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) field modes. We analytically investigate the quantum analog to the bit error rate (BER) as a function of the laser’s linewidth, the linewidth of the RF oscillator and chromatic dispersion. The results of quantum models are compared with the semiclassical model. Quantum treatment of both the BER and variance is found to agree with prior results for a single-mode ASE field in the absence of phase noise but deviate when the effect of phase noise is considered. Including phase noise effects in the amplitude in the semiclassical treatment of the BER yields a new semiclassical expression that agrees with quantum expressions of machine precision for single-mode ASE fields.