Impact of finite bandwidth on PRBS-modulated optical spectra

Applying a pseudo-random binary sequence (PRBS) to phase modulators is a recent development in the broadening of optical spectra of laser sources to defeat stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS). The theoretical underpinning of this method relies on alternating the phase of the optical signal between its native value and an out-of-phase value (i.e., imposing a binary phase shift of 0 or π in a pseudo random manner) to prevent coherent buildup of the SBS acoustic grating. In real physical systems, realizing such a binary shift is impossible due to the finite response times of the electronics and electro-optic components. The influence of these effects is investigated in this work, specifically the finite bandwidth of the electronic PRBS generator and the frequency-dependent response of the phase modulator, on the resultant temporal waveforms of the PRBS signal and its RF optical spectra. It is found that the optimal SBS suppression in real systems is achieved when the phase modulator is driven at a voltage beyond V π , even though driving at V π has been deemed as ideal. Moreover, both the SBS suppression and spectral broadening are always weaker than what is predicted by analytical results since any degradation of the sharp edges of the PRBS signal result in loss of high-frequency content in the RF spectrum of the PRBS signal. Lastly, it is noticed that the typical ways of measuring spectral width are not relevant when applied to the complex PRBS RF optical spectrum. An 'equivalent spectral width' is defined to accurately quantify the correlation between spectral width an SBS suppression.