Abstract
Optoelectronic oscillators are ultra-pure microwave generators based on optical energy storage instead of high finesse radio-frequency resonators. We present in this communication a new and compact architecture where the optical energy storage is performed by trapping laser light into the ultra-high <i>Q</i> whispering gallery modes of a millimeter-size disk resonator. As a proof of concept, we demonstrate the generation of a 10.7 GHz microwave with a phase noise of -110 dBrad<sup>2</sup>/Hz at 100 kHz. We also discuss in detail the potential of this architecture for the generation of microwaves with a frequency ranging from 50 to 200 GHz.
Highlights
Optoelectronic oscillators (OEOs) are ultra-pure microwave generators based on optical energy storage instead of high finesse radio-frequency (RF) resonators.[1]
The fact that a resonator is an imbalanced interferometer is precisely the situation required for the differential phase-to-intensity conversion. This originates from standard differential optical phase modulation techniques, which are known in optical communications to offer superior performances as soon as the modulation speed is very high. We present in this communication a new configuration where a microwave is generated using a single-loop OEO with ultra-high Q whispering gallery-mode (WGM) disk resonator
The main differences are that the fiber delay line has been replaced by a WGM resonator, while the Mach-Zehnder modulator has been replaced by a phase modulator
Summary
Optoelectronic oscillators (OEOs) are ultra-pure microwave generators based on optical energy storage instead of high finesse radio-frequency (RF) resonators.[1] These oscillators have many specific advantages, such has exceptionally low phase noise, and versatility of the output frequency which is determined by the RF bandwidth of the optoelectronic components. The optical storage element in OEOs is an optical fiber delay line, and the output microwave frequency of the system is defined by a narrow RF band-pass filter in the electronic segment of the feedback loop This original configuration yields excellent phase noise performance, but it has several drawbacks. We present in detail the experimental setup of this OEO, present the experimental results on phase noise measurement, and discuss its potential for mm-wave systems
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