Noise conversion in Kerr comb RF photonic oscillators

Transfer of amplitude and phase noise from a continuous wave optical pump to the repetition rate of a Kerr frequency comb is studied theoretically, with focus on generation of spectrally pure radio frequency (RF) signals via demodulation of the frequency comb on a fast photodiode. It is shown that both the high-order chromatic dispersion of the resonator spectrum and frequency-dependent quality factor of the resonator modes facilitate the optical-to-RF noise conversion that limits spectral purity of the RF signal. (C) 2015 Optical Society of America