Abstract

Generation, control, and measurement of electrical signals can benefit from recent advances in optical technology. In particular, optoelectronically-phase-locked synthesizers are potentially useful devices for antenna remoting and other applications involving optical-microwave interactions. Previously we demonstrated laser-diode-based optoelectronic phase locking by using a photoconductive switch,¹ a bulk electro-optic sampler,^2,3 or an integrated-optic modulator.⁴ Phase locking up to 18.5 GHz, or the 37th harmonic of the optical clock at f_o, has been demonstrated. In this work, we demonstrate optoelectronic subharmonic phase locking for the generation of stable electrical signals at f_o/N or (M/N)f_o, where N, and M are integers.

© 1995 Optical Society of America