Dynamically induced nonlinearity in a resonant-cavity interferometric intensity modulator.

The frequency dependence of the spur-free dynamic range (SFDR) in a modulator based on an injection-locked laser is analyzed. It is shown that as the modulation frequency approaches half of the locking range, the SFDR of the modulator approaches that of a standard Mach-Zehnder configuration. At low frequencies, the SFDR degrades by 2 dB for every octave of frequency increase.