Optical scattering noise in high Q fiber ring resonators and its effect on optoelectronic oscillator phase noise.

Nonlinear phenomena occurring in an optical fiber ring resonator featuring ultrahigh Q factor are experimentally studied. The laser is locked onto the resonator, and the optical power induced in the resonator is controlled. The onset of the first stimulated Brillouin scattering wave occurs at an optical input power as low as -9 dBm in these resonators. When the resonator is used as the frequency reference device in an optoelectronic oscillator (OEO), it has been found that these parasitic signals mix with the OEO signal and degrade its phase noise. More than 20 dB improvement of the OEO phase noise has been demonstrated by limiting these nonlinear optical effects.