Fast ultra-wideband microwave spectral scanning utilizing photonic wavelength- and time-division multiplexing

Opt Express. 2017 Aug 7;25(16):18863-18871. doi: 10.1364/OE.25.018863.

Abstract

A high-speed ultra-wideband microwave spectral scanning system is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. Utilizing coherent dual electro-optical frequency combs and a recirculating optical frequency shifter, the proposed system realizes wavelength- and time-division multiplexing at the same time, offering flexibility between scan speed and size, weight and power requirements (SWaP). High-speed spectral scanning spanning from ~1 to 8 GHz with ~1.2 MHz spectral resolution is achieved experimentally within 14 µs. The system can be easily scaled to higher bandwidth coverage, faster scanning speed or finer spectral resolution with suitable hardware.