Hybrid-integrated wideband tunable optoelectronic oscillator

Area of Science:

• Photonics
• Microwave Engineering
• Integrated Optics

Background:

• Optoelectronic oscillators (OEOs) are crucial for high-frequency microwave signal generation.
• Conventional OEOs using discrete components suffer from large size and low reliability.
• There is a growing demand for compact, high-performance OEOs in practical applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose and demonstrate a hybrid-integrated wideband tunable OEO with low phase noise.
• To overcome the limitations of conventional OEOs by achieving a high integration level.
• To enable practical applications requiring compact and reliable microwave signal sources.

Main Methods:

• Hybrid integration of a laser chip with a silicon photonic chip.
• Wire-bonding of silicon photonic chip to electronic chips and microstrip lines.
• Utilizing a compact fiber ring for high-Q factor and an yttrium iron garnet filter for frequency tuning.

Main Results:

• Achieved a low phase noise of -128.04 dBc/Hz @ 10 kHz at 10 GHz oscillation frequency.
• Demonstrated a wideband tuning range from 3 GHz to 18 GHz, covering C, X, and Ku bands.
• Successfully created a compact and highly integrated OEO system.

Conclusions:

• The hybrid-integrated OEO offers a viable solution for compact, high-performance microwave signal generation.
• This technology has significant potential for modern radar, wireless communication, and electronic warfare systems.
• The demonstrated approach effectively addresses the need for miniaturized and reliable OEOs.