Timing-jitter measurement of 78-GHz optical time-division multiplexed pulses by optoelectronic harmonic mixing

The timing jitter of 78-GHz optical time-division multiplexed pulses has been evaluated over nine decades of Fourier frequency by the time-domain demodulation technique. For downconverting the 78-GHz pulse intensity into a low-frequency i.f. signal, an optoelectronic harmonic mixing scheme with a Mach-Zehnder intensity modulator was employed. The rms timing jitter has been estimated to be 3.74 ps for 2.5 mHz-18 MHz bandwidth.