Ultrafast single-shot optical vector network analyzer based on coherent time-stretch

Ever-increasing demands for a higher bandwidth of data in the optical communications augment the operating frequency of components and systems. To accelerate the development of these large-bandwidth technologies, there is a growing demand to characterize the frequency response of optical devices in real time. In this work, we report a method to significantly improve the measurement speed of an optical vector network analyzer (OVNA) with coherent time-stretch (CTS). Single-shot frequency spectrum measurements are enabled by time-stretch technology that maps the spectrum of an optical pulse to the time domain. Compared to single-ended detection, the implementation of coherent detection enables the acquiring of accurate phase information of the signal and also provides the digital processed cancellation of dispersion-induced impairments. By utilizing dispersive time-stretch and digital coherent detection techniques, we demonstrate an ultrafast and wide bandwidth OVNA. We successfully characterize its performance by measuring the frequency response of a micro-ring cavity and a silicon Mach-Zehnder interferometer with 0.07-nm spectral resolution and 0.156-rad phase accuracy over 10-nm bandwidth. Meanwhile, the dynamic responses of the magnitude and phase, and the drift of the resonance wavelength of the micro-ring modulator under thermal tuning, were fully recorded by the CTS-OVNA at a 20-MHz frame rate.