The experimental optimization of a 10 GHz optoelectronic oscillator (OEO) based on a 1.55 μm directly modulated distributed feedback (DFB) laser is demonstrated in this paper. The phase noise of the directly modulated laser (DML) based OEO is significantly reduced by proper selection of the laser's bias current and by using a dispersion shifted fiber as a delay line. The phase noise performance of the DML OEO achieved after optimization is close to that of a conventional OEO constructed using a commercial DFB laser and a LiNbO 3 Mach-Zehnder modulator. The DML based OEO is most promising for future realization of a miniature OEO architecture with the components integrated on a semiconductor substrate.
WANG LiXianZHU NingHuaLIU JianGuoLI WeiZHU HongLiangWANG Wei
Compressive sampling （CS） has attracted considerable attention in microwave and radio frequency （RF） fields in recent years. It enables the acquisition of high-frequency signals at a rate much smaller than their Nyquist rates. Combined with photonics technology, traditional CS systems can significantly enlarge their operating bandwidth, which offers great potential for spectrum sensing in cognitive radios. In this Letter, we review our recent work on photonic CS systems for wideband spectrum sensing. First, a proof-of-concept photonics-assisted CS system is demonstrated; it is capable of acquiring numerous radar pulses in an instantaneous bandwidth spanning from 500 MHz to 5 GHz with a 500-MHz analog-to-digital converter （ADC）. To further reduce the acquisition bandwidth, multi-channel photonics-assisted CS systems are proposed for the first time, enabling the acquisition of multi-tone signals with frequencies up to 5 GHz by using 120-MHz ADCs. In addition, the system bandwidth is increased from 5 to 20 GHz by employing time-interleaved optical sampling.
By optimizing the gain configuration and length of the loop, a 90-tone optical frequency comb （OFC） is successfully generated based on recirculating frequency shifter structure. The peak-to-peak power fluctuation of the 90-tone OFC is 4.26 dB and the tone-to-noise ratio is higher than 19.17 dB. To further analyze the noise accumulation feature of the tones when travelling around the loop, linewidth of the tones is measured by delayed self-heterodyne interferometer structure. The result shows the linewidth of the tones deteriorates little during the recirculating process, indicating that the generated OFC is an ideal multi-wavelength source for high-speed communication svstems.
