Frequency-converted, polarization insensitive, and dispersion immune photonic link with Brillouin amplification

We have demonstrated a technique called Brillouin selective sideband amplification (BSSA) for photonic RF signal amplification and signal processing. In this paper, we describe a simple and elegant scheme that utilizes BSSA to eliminate many practical problems and make multi-functional photonic links feasible. In particular, we demonstrate a frequency down/up conversion photonic link that has no polarization sensitivity, no need for biasing the modulators, no fiber dispersion induced signal fading, increased optical power handling capability, built-in optical amplification and increased signal conversion efficiency.