Improved RF performance of a comb-based microwave photonic filter using a balanced photodetector

A comb-based microwave photonic filter using a balanced photodetector (BPD) has been experimentally demonstrated to improve radio frequency (RF) performance including RF gain and noise figure (NF). We compare the RF performance of schemes using a single photodetector (SPD) and BPD. Using the BPD, we achieve a RF gain of -10.3 dB and a NF of 29 dB at a RF center frequency of 3.33 GHz; these results are improved by approximately 6 and 21 dB, respectively, compared to the SPD case.