Ring resonator-based on-chip modulation transformer for high-performance phase-modulated microwave photonic links (original) (raw)

A photonic chip based frequency discriminator for a high performance microwave photonic link

Optics Express, 2010

We report a high performance phase modulation direct detection microwave photonic link employing a photonic chip as a frequency discriminator. The photonic chip consists of five optical ring resonators (ORRs) which are fully programmable using thermo-optical tuning. In this discriminator a drop-port response of an ORR is cascaded with a through response of another ORR to yield a linear phase modulation (PM) to intensity modulation (IM) conversion. The balanced photonic link employing the PM to IM conversion exhibits high second-order and thirdorder input intercept points of + 46 dBm and + 36 dBm, respectively, which are simultaneously achieved at one bias point.

Dual-function photonic integrated circuit for frequency octo-tupling or single-side-band modulation

A dual-function photonic integrated circuit for microwave photonic applications is proposed. The circuit consists of four linear electro-optic phase modulators connected optically in parallel within a generalized Mach–Zehnder interferometer architecture. The photonic circuit is arranged to have two separate output ports. A first port provides frequency up-conversion of a microwave signal from the electrical to the optical domain; equivalently singleside- band modulation. A second port provides tunable millimeter wave carriers by frequency octo-tupling of an appropriate amplitude RF carrier. The circuit exploits the intrinsic relative phases between the ports of multi-mode interference couplers to provide substantially all the static optical phases needed. The operation of the proposed dual-function photonic integrated circuit is verified by computer simulations. The performance of the frequency octo-tupling and up-conversion functions is analyzed in terms of the electrical signal to harmonic distortion ratio and the optical single side band to unwanted harmonics ratio, respectively.

Novel wideband microwave polarization network using a fully-reconfigurable photonic waveguide interleaver with a two-ring resonator-assisted asymmetric Mach-Zehnder structure

Optics Express, 2013

We propose and demonstrate a novel wideband microwave photonic polarization network for dual linear-polarized antennas. The polarization network is based on a waveguide-implemented fullyreconfigurable optical interleaver using a two-ring resonator-assisted asymmetric Mach-Zehnder structure. For microwave photonic signal processing, this structure is able to serve as a wideband 2 × 2 RF coupler with reconfigurable complex coefficients, and therefore can be used as a polarization network for wideband antennas. Such a device can equip the antennas with not only the polarization rotation capability for linearpolarization signals but also the capability to operate with and tune between two opposite circular polarizations. Operating together with a particular modulation scheme, the device is also able to serve for simultaneous feeding of dual-polarization signals. These photonic-implemented RF functionalities can be applied to wideband antenna systems to perform agile polarization manipulations and tracking operations. An example of such a interleaver has been realized in TriPleX waveguide technology, which was designed with a free spectral range of 20 GHz and a mask footprint of smaller than 1 × 1 cm. Using the realized device, the reconfigurable complex coefficients of the polarization network were demonstrated with a continuous bandwidth from 2 to 8 GHz and an in-band phase ripple of smaller than 5 degree. The waveguide structure of the device allows it to be further integrated with other functional building blocks of a photonic integrated circuit to realize on-chip, complex microwave photonic processors. Of particular interest, it can be included in an optical beamformer for phased array antennas, so that simultaneous wideband beam and polarization trackings can be achieved photonically. To our knowledge, this is the first-time on-chip demonstration of an integrated microwave photonic polarization network for dual linear-polarized antennas.

Lossless microwave photonic delay line using a ring resonator with an integrated semiconductor optical amplifier

Journal of Optics, 2017

Optical delay lines implemented in photonic integrated circuits (PICs) are essential for creating robust and low-cost optical signal processors on miniaturized chips. In particular, tunable delay lines enable a key feature of programmability for the on-chip processing functions. However, the previously investigated tunable delay lines are plagued by a severe drawback of delay-dependent loss due to the propagation loss in the constituent waveguides. In principle, a serial-connected amplifier can be used to compensate such losses or perform additional amplitude manipulation. However, this solution is generally unpractical as it introduces additional burden on chip area and power consumption, particularly for large-scale integrated PICs. Here, we report an integrated tunable delay line that overcomes the delay-dependent loss, and simultaneously allows for independent manipulation of group delay and amplitude responses. It uses a ring resonator with a tunable coupler and a semiconductor optical amplifier in the feedback path. A proof-ofconcept device with a free spectral range of 11.5 GHz and a delay bandwidth in the order of 200 MHz is discussed in the context of microwave photonics and is experimentally demonstrated to be able to provide a lossless delay up to 1.1 to a 5 ns Gaussian pulse. The proposed device can be designed for different frequency scales with potential for applications across many other areas such as telecommunications, LIDAR, and spectroscopy, serving as a novel building block for creating chip-scale programmable optical signal processors.

Highly linear InP phase modulator for high dynamic range RF/Photonic links

2010

The optical phase locked loop (OPLL) photonic integrated circuit (PIC) is a key element for the emerging linear coherent RF-photonic links. One of the main challenges for the OPLL-PIC is the nonlinearity of the Indium Phosphide (InP)based phase modulator. In this paper, we report the experimental results from a multi-quantum well phase modulator fabricated on an InP substrate that is specially designed for the OPLL-PIC. The phase modulator shows low optical loss and good linearity performance. In particular, at a reverse bias voltage of 5.6 V, its phase IP3 and insertion loss per unit length are ~2.8π/mm and 1.2 dB/mm, respectively.

Programmable Silicon Photonic RF Filters with Symmetric Out-of-Band Rejection

This paper presents an integrated optical signal processor (OSP) design using CMOS-compatible silicon photonics technology, offering a tunable RF bandpass filter (5G/6G frequency range) with a programmable bandwidth and symmetric out-of-band rejection. The OSP is comprised of two identical microring resonators cascaded with a common bus waveguide, in 220 nm silicon-on-insulator substrate. The ring resonators are designed with low-loss rib waveguide structures (supporting fundamental and first-order TE-like modes) to ensure relatively lower propagation losses and to obtain high-Q resonances. The single-mode bus waveguide is designed to facilitate the desired range of coupling strengths via thermo-optic tuning. Four thermo-optic phase shifters are integrated to tune the resonant wavelengths and the Q-values of the individual microring resonators. The four phase shifters could be programmed to obtain desired optical filter characteristics of the fabricated OSP chip. The RF filter exper...

On-chip CMOS compatible reconfigurable optical delay line with separate carrier tuning for microwave photonic signal processing

Optics …, 2011

We report, for the first time, an integrated photonic signal processor consisting of a reconfigurable optical delay line (ODL) with a separate carrier tuning (SCT) unit and an optical sideband filter on a single CMOS compatible photonic chip. The processing functionalities are carried out with optical ring resonators as building blocks. We show that the integrated approach together with the use of SCT technique allows the implementation of a wideband, fully-tunable ODL with reduced complexity. To highlight the functionalities of the processor, we demonstrate a reconfigurable microwave photonic filter where the ODL has been configured in a bandwidth over 1 GHz. © 2011 OSA

Adaptive High Linearity Intensity Modulator for Advanced Microwave Photonic Links

Optical Communication Technology, 2017

This chapter, first, presents the motivation behind the need for adaptive, highly linear electro-optic modulators and an overview of the different optical linearization approaches of electro-optic modulators. Then, the figures of merits in terms of linearity performance are described and analyzed. Next, the chapter focuses on one excellent linearization approach called interferometric modulator with phase-modulating and cavity-modulating components (IMPACC). Here, we model IMPACC by simulating each of the key building blocks separately before putting them together as IMPACC modulator. This adaptive IMPACC design is compared to typical Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) based modulators, and ring-assisted Mach-Zenhder interferometer (RAMZI) modulators. Theoretical analysis and results show that the IMPACC provides both superior linearity performance and unique adaptive feature that can be used to compensate for manufacturing tolerances, thus, providing extra flexibility in terms of device manufacturability as well as system integration.

Silicon Photonics Enabled Hyper-Wideband RF Receiver With >85% Instantaneous Bandwidth

IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics, 2018

We demonstrate the first-ever silicon photonics enabled hyper-wideband RF spread-spectrum link. A hybrid III/Vsilicon photonic mode-locked laser encoded with a four-channel silicon photonic phase encoder is used to generate optical carriers that coherently demodulate a received RF signal spanning an instantaneous bandwidth greater than 85% of the center frequency (12/14 GHz). This allows low-speed (<3 GHz) electronics to be used in place of the traditional costly and high-power wide-bandwidth electronics used in an all-electronic hyper-wideband link. In addition, integrated highly tunable optical notch filters are successfully used to reject unwanted narrowband interference, with rejection ratio and tunability that surpass conventional wireless technology. Index Terms-Silicon microwave photonics, hyper-wideband RF, data obfuscation, spread-spectrum. I. INTRODUCTION I NTEGRATED photonics promises to bring the advantages of optics, particularly large bandwidths and wide-band tunability, to the aid of domains traditionally served by bulky electronics. Common difficulties with bulk and fiber optics such as lack of phase stability and expensive and laborious alignment prevent large-scale highly complex systems to be built in a low-cost and mechanically stable way. By overcoming these challenges, integrated photonics opens up new possibilities for optics and Manuscript