Photonic generation of frequency-doubled triangular waveforms based on a dual parallel Mach–Zehnder modulator

Abstract

We propose a photonic approach to generating frequency-doubled triangular waveforms using a dual-parallel Mach–Zehnder modulator (DPMZM). Most previous modulator-based schemes require additional processing of optical sidebands using filters or a dispersive element. In our work, optical processing of optical components is no longer necessary. The triangular waveforms with a repetition rate twice the frequency of the applied microwave signal can be directly generated by properly setting the bias and driven signal of the DPMZM. Since there is no additional optical processing, the proposed structure is cost effective. The repetition rate of the generated waveform is freely tunable over a wide bandwidth since there is no optical or electrical filter involved. The proposed approach is theoretically analyzed and experimentally demonstrated. Triangular waveforms with the repetition rates of 6, 8, and 10 GHz are successfully generated.