A technique to characterize amplitude distortions and optical carrier frequency variations (chirp) using optical heterodyne reception and data post-processing is presented. Predominantly, dynamic performances of electro-optical switching action based on semiconductor optical amplifiers (SOA) are analyzed, through the measuring of the SOA chirp imposed on the switched optical carrier. The employment of nearly linear SOAs is preferable in comparison with its nonlinear counterparts since the slower operational state transitions are compensated by narrower guard times and less drastic transient behaviors. At its best operational condition, the most linear SOA achieved chirp oscillations below $0.4\text{GHz}$. Its short transient behavior indicates the possibility to achieve optical package switching with low latency and low amplitude and frequency distortions.

提出了一种使用光外差接收和数据后处理来表征幅度失真和光载波频率变化（啁啾）的技术。主要通过测量施加在开关光载波上的 SOA 线性调频来分析基于半导体光放大器 (SOA) 的电光开关动作的动态性能。与其非线性对应物相比，使用近乎线性的 SOA 更可取，因为较慢的操作状态转换可以通过更窄的保护时间和不太剧烈的瞬态行为来补偿。在其最佳操作条件下，最线性的 SOA 实现了以下 chirp 振荡$0.4\text{吉赫兹}$. 其短暂的瞬态行为表明可以实现低延迟、低幅度和频率失真的光学封装切换。