Optical signal-to-noise ratio measurement by optical homodyne tomography

An all-fiber optical homodyne tomography setup is introduced that measures the optical signal-to-noise ratio through reconstruction of the photon statistics. The scheme described has been conceived for applications to optical communications. In particular, the signal-to-noise ratio has been evaluated at ? = 1.55 ?m as a function of the received power. From the experimental data, in the case of optically amplified signals, the amplifier noise figure can be estimated. © 2006 Optical Society of America.