Laser sources for microwave to millimeter-wave applications [Invited]

Abstract

We present several laser sources dedicated to advanced microwave photonic applications. A quantum-dash mode-locked laser delivering a high-power, ultra-stable pulse train is first described. We measure a linewidth below 300 kHz at a 4.3 GHz repetition rate for an output power above 300 mW and a pulse duration of 1.1 ps after compression, making this source ideal for microwave signal sampling applications. A widely tunable (5-110 GHz), monolithic millimeter-wave transceiver based on the integration of two semiconductor distributed feedback lasers, four amplifiers, and two high-speed uni-traveling carrier photodiodes is then presented, together with its application to the wireless transmission of data at 200 Mb∕s. A frequency-agile laser source dedicated to microwave signal processing is then described. It delivers arbitrary frequency sweeps over 20 GHz with high precision and high speed (above 400 GHz∕ms). Finally, we report on a low-noise (below 1 kHz linewidth), solid-state, dual-frequency laser source. It allows independent tuning of the two frequencies in the perspective of the implementation of a tunable optoelectronic oscillator based on a high-Q optical resonator.

Satellite Payloads Pay Off

“…To ensure low phase noise in the generated microwave signal, the two optical waves applied to the PD for heterodyning must be phase correlated. A simple and cost-effective way of producing two optical waves is to employ a dual-wavelength, single-longitudinal-mode laser source [20], [21], but the phase correlation between the two wavelengths is generally not good enough to generate an LO signal with acceptable phase-noise level. A phase-locked loop (PLL) is thus required to lock the phase of one wavelength onto the other, which further requires a low-noise microwave reference with the same frequency as that of the generated LO signal [21].…”

“…A simple and cost-effective way of producing two optical waves is to employ a dual-wavelength, single-longitudinal-mode laser source [20], [21], but the phase correlation between the two wavelengths is generally not good enough to generate an LO signal with acceptable phase-noise level. A phase-locked loop (PLL) is thus required to lock the phase of one wavelength onto the other, which further requires a low-noise microwave reference with the same frequency as that of the generated LO signal [21]. Two phase-correlated optical waves can also be generated by optical frequency multiplication based on electro-optical modulators [22], [23].…”

CW dual-frequency MOPA laser with frequency separation of 45 GHz

“…The field of microwave photonics has attracted growing interests worldwide in recent years, with applications such as metrology [1,2], remote sensing [3], communication systems [4] as well as photonic radio frequency (RF) wave and terahertz (THz) wave generation [5,6]. Among different architectures of photonic RF wave generation, the adoption of dualfrequency lasers is an interesting way, in which dual frequency signals oscillate in the same cavity for frequency beating.…”

Fully integrated multi-optoelectronic synthesizer for THz pumping source in wireless communications with rich backup redundancy and wide tuning range

“…Monolithically integrated sub-systems based on photonic integrated circuits (PICs) techniques have recently undergone a period of rapid development 11 12 13 14 15 , but PICs which are designed to generate THz carrier frequencies have not yet been explored in any depth. Studies of PIC-based approaches for wireless communication are few and have been limited to gigahertz frequencies 16 17 .…”