Microring resonator-based photonic system for terahertz signal generation

Abstract

We propose a photonic system based on add–drop microring resonator and mode-locked laser for terahertz (THz) signal generation. A mode-locked laser acts as an input source to the microring resonator. The transfer characteristics of the microring resonator generate Lorentzian shaped pulses at the output ports of the microring resonator. These series of pulses obtained are then investigated in two approaches; in the first approach, the output of the microring resonator is given to a photodetector which generates 33 THz pulses separated by a spacing of 1 THz with a full width at half maximum (FWHM) of 0.15 THz. In the second approach, the output of the microring resonator is given to an optical filter to extract a particular frequency component. In this case, a single THz carrier with a FWHM of 0.2618 THz is obtained. The THz frequency components generated by the proposed photonic system can act as carriers for communication between the indoor user and the base station of a pico/femto cell in a 5G environment.