The basic OEO configuration, shown in Fig. 1, has several
major sources that contribute to the overall noise of the OEO.
The laser carrier itself has both amplitude (intensity) and
phase noise, which can appear in the photonic link and thus
can also appear at the output of the OEO [3, 4]. Laser
amplitude, or relative intensity noise (RIN), can become OEO
amplitude noise if loop components are not operating in
saturation. Laser phase noise can convert to RIN after
traveling through a dispersive fiber delay line [5, 6]. The
photodiode contributes flicker noise as well as shot noise [7].
The RF amplifier contributes flicker and thermal noise. At
higher optical powers the laser interacts with the fiber and
optical components, producing noise from several different
scattering and interference effects