Abstract
The precision electronic oscillator is paramount for providing a frequency reference, timing, and synchronization in advanced technologies ranging from test and measurement, to communication networks, radar, and microwave atomic clocks. Recently, optical frequency division (OFD) of cavity-stabilized lasers has demonstrated microwave signals [1] with significantly improved noise as compared to oven-controlled crystals oscillators [2-3]. Although exquisitely stable, signals derived via OFD are typically at a fixed frequency. In our work we employ the microwave harmonic spectrum derived via OFD as a time base for digital synthesis, demonstrating agile signals in the X-band with instabilities of 1 part in 1015. Optoelectronic multiplication of the agile X-band signals via high-speed photodetection [4] of a phase modulated and filtered CW laser allows for high-fidelity extension of synthesis to the W-band covering a frequency range 98 – 102 GHz. As seen in Fig. 1, using these techniques we demonstrate tunable signals with greater than a factor of 50 dB (70 dB) improvement in close-to-carrier noise as compared to state-of-the-art electronic and photonic X-band (W-band) synthesizers.
© 2015 IEEE
PDF ArticleMore Like This
Eric A. Kittlaus, Danny Eliyahu, Setareh Ganji, Skip Williams, Andrey B. Matsko, Ken B. Cooper, and Siamak Forouhar
STh1C.6 CLEO: Science and Innovations (CLEO:S&I) 2021
D. A. Howe, A. Hati, C. W. Nelson, and Lora Nugent-Glandorf
FTh4C.1 Frontiers in Optics (FiO) 2015
Bryan T. Bosworth, Nick R. Jungwirth, Kassiopeia Smith, Jerome Cheron, Franklyn Quinlan, Madison Woodson, Jesse Morgan, Andreas Beling, Ari Feldman, Dylan Williams, Nathan D. Orloff, and Christian J. Long
AW5L.1 CLEO: Applications and Technology (CLEO:A&T) 2022