Effects of Timing Noise on Square-Wave Optoelectronic Oscillators

Optoelectronic oscillators produce microwave-modulated optical beams without external modulation. The most commonly studied types produces narrow-band output, i.e., optical output modulated by a sinusoid, in which case phase noise determines key figures of merit that limit device performance. Nonetheless, other types of modulated signals have been exhibited by optoelectronic oscillators, including square waves. In this work we provide a theoretical treatment of the power spectral density of a microwave self-modulated optical periodic, but non-sinusoidal, oscillator in the presence of timing noise (as phase noise is only defined for a single sinusoid) and focus on the case of square waves. We consider the effects of timing noise on the power spectral density and autocorrelation function of the modulation signal.