Phase noise mitigation in photonics-based radio frequency multiplication.

Area of Science:

• Photonics and Optics
• Radio Frequency Engineering
• Signal Processing

Background:

• High-frequency radio frequency (RF) carriers are crucial for modern communication systems.
• Conventional frequency multiplication techniques often introduce significant phase noise, degrading signal quality.
• Minimizing phase noise in RF signal generation is a key challenge in RF engineering.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose and experimentally demonstrate two novel photonics-based schemes for RF frequency multiplication.
• To achieve generation of high-frequency carriers with significantly reduced phase noise.
• To compare the phase noise reduction performance against conventional methods.

Main Methods:

• Development of two distinct photonics-based RF multiplication schemes.
• Experimental demonstration involving sixfold multiplication of an 18.3-GHz carrier to generate a 110-GHz carrier.
• Characterization of phase noise performance for both proposed schemes.

Main Results:

• The first scheme demonstrated selective cancellation of phase noise at specific frequency offsets.
• The second scheme achieved a uniform 3-dB mitigation of phase noise across the spectrum.
• Experimental results validated the theoretical predictions for phase noise reduction in both schemes.

Conclusions:

• The proposed photonics-based schemes offer effective solutions for reducing phase noise in high-frequency RF carrier generation.
• These methods provide distinct advantages over conventional frequency multiplication techniques.
• The experimental validation confirms the practical viability and performance of the developed schemes.