Ultrahigh Dynamic Range and Low Noise Figure Programmable Integrated Microwave Photonic Filter

TL;DR

This paper presents a novel integrated microwave photonic circuit that simultaneously offers high dynamic range, low noise figure, and programmable filtering, overcoming previous limitations in performance and integration.

Contribution

First demonstration of a multi-functional integrated microwave photonic circuit with record-high RF metrics and programmable filtering capabilities.

Findings

Achieved >120 dB.Hz dynamic range

Realized 15 dB noise figure

Enabled versatile complex spectrum tailoring

Abstract

Microwave photonics (MWP) has adopted a number of important concepts and technologies over the recent pasts, including photonic integration, versatile programmability, and techniques for enhancing key radio frequency performance metrics such as the noise figure and the dynamic range. However, to date, these aspects have not been achieved simultaneously in a single circuit. Here, we demonstrate, for the first time, a multi-functional integrated microwave photonic circuit that enables on-chip programmable filtering functions while achieving record-high key radio frequency metrics of >120 dB.Hz dynamic range and 15 dB of noise figure that are previously unreachable. We unlock this unique feature by versatile complex spectrum tailoring using an all integrated modulation transformer and a double injection ring resonator as a multi-function optical filtering component. This work breaks the conventional and fragmented approach of integration, functionality and performance that currently prevents the adoption of integrated MWP systems in real applications.