Single passband microwave photonic filter using continuous-time impulse response

Abstract

A single passband microwave photonic signal processor based on continuous time impulse response that has high resolution, multiple-taps and baseband-free response as well as exhibiting a square-top passband and tunability, is presented. The design and synthesis of the frequency response are based on a full systematic model for single passband microwave photonic filters to account for arbitrary spectrum slice shapes, which for the first time investigates the combined effects from both the dispersion-induced carrier suppression effect and the RF decay effect due to the spectrum slice width, to enable the optimum design to be realized by utilizing the carrier suppression effect to improve the filter performance. Experimental results demonstrate a high order microwave filter showing high resolution single passband filtering as well as exhibiting reconfiguration, square-top passband and tunability, for the first time to our best knowledge.