Abstracts Physics

Characteristics of noise and photon statistics of fiber components in electro-optical systems

by Cheng (1979 - ) Zhao

This thesis presents a comprehensive study of the role of the fiber replicator in electro-optical systems. In the all fiber optical diagnostic system for the National Ignition Facility‟s DANTE data acquisition system running at 1550nm, the 8× fiber replicator was used to increase the SNR (Signal to Noise Ratio) of single-shot, electrical pulse measurements. In the system, Mach-Zehnder modulators were used to convert the electrical signals into optical signals. The fiber replicator was used to create identical copies of the optical signals. A High SNR was achieved through the averaging of these duplicated signals. Erbium-doped fiber amplifiers (EDFAs) were built to amplify the optical signals after the fiber replicator. The EDFAs applied in the DANTEEO system should have high gain, low noise, low background signals and high pulse-shape fidelity. In this thesis, we discussed the effect of different configurations and the type of Er-doped fibers on the gain and noise performance of EDFAs. We also used a simplified model for dynamic gain in EDFAs to explore the effect of the EDFA on the shape of the amplified pulse. Based on this model, the calculated pulse-shape distortions were found to be dependent on the EDFA configuration and the optical gain. We also investigated the photon statistics with the fiber replicator in a photon entanglement system. The entangled photons were created through the up-conversion and down-conversion of a Q-switch laser beam running at 1053nm. The different behavior between entangled photon and non-entangled single photons in the system with the fiber replicator are discussed.