Optically-Injected-Semiconductor-Laser-Based Tunable Dual-Frequency Optoelectronic Oscillator under Subharmonic Microwave Modulation

Jiayi Zhao,Mingshan Zhao,Yiying Gu,Xiuyou Han,Jingjing Hu,Xiaozhou Li,Jian Li

doi:10.3390/app11093961

Jiayi Zhao, Mingshan Zhao + Show 5 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/app11093961

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Abstract

To obtain low-phase-noise microwave signals with a widely tunable frequency range, an optoelectronic oscillator (OEO) was constructed on the basis of an optically injected semiconductor laser (OISL) for the generation of high-quality microwave signals. Our OEO relied on the effect of wavelength-selective amplification and the period-one (P1) oscillation under optical injection. The signal’s frequency stability, side-mode-suppression ratio (SMSR) and linewidth were optimized by the subharmonic microwave modulation technique in the OEO loop. The experimental results showed that the frequency of the signal obtained by the proposed OEO could be tuned up to 18 GHz. Using the dual-loop OEO structure, the SMSR was increased to 55 dB. Moreover, the phase noise of the obtained microwave signal was lower than −81 dBc/Hz at 1 kHz frequency offset and −119 dBc/Hz at 10 kHz frequency offset. This was achieved by introducing subharmonic microwave modulation in the OEO loop, respectively. Furthermore, via the utilization of a Fabry–Perot laser diode (FP-LD) in the proposed structure, a dual-loop OEO with different dual-frequency configurations (which could be tuned up to 12 and 18 GHz) was obtained.

Highlights

With the rapid development of information technology, the generation of microwave signals with low phase noise and a widely tunable frequency range plays a crucial role in wireless communication, radar and optical communication [1,2,3,4,5]
We proposed a tunable dual-frequency optoelectronic oscillator (OEO) based on an optically injected semiconductor laser (OISL) for microwave signal generation with low phase noise and wide tunability
A tunable dual-frequency dual-loop OEO was investigated based on OISL in the

Summary

Introduction

With the rapid development of information technology, the generation of microwave signals with low phase noise and a widely tunable frequency range plays a crucial role in wireless communication, radar and optical communication [1,2,3,4,5]. [13], a dual-loop OEO relying on a polarization-multiplexed structure was advanced by utilizing the phase-shifted fiber Bragg grating (PS-FBG), PBS and polarization beam combiner (PBC) in the structure This allowed for the generation of microwave signals ranging from 1 to 4 GHz. the SMSR of the generated signal could be improved by this scheme. [14], a dual-loop OEO was proposed on the basis of OISL to construct an MPF in the system, with a tunable frequency range from 9.63 to 19.11 GHz In this method, the obtained 13.74 GHz microwave signal’s phase noise was −103.2 dBc/Hz at 10 kHz frequency offset. OEO structure, a dual-frequency dual-loop OEO with different frequency configurations could be tuned up to 12 and 18 GHz. It should be noted that the tunability for the proposed microwave signal generation is only limited by the electrical bandwidths of the amplifier, electro–optic modulator and photodetector. Higher microwave frequencies could be obtained using the devices with larger bandwidths in the OEO loop

Operating Principle

Experiment and Results

Conclusions