Linearized integrated microwave photonic circuit for filtering and phase shifting

Photonic integration, advanced functionality, reconfigurability, and high radio frequency (RF) performance are key features in integrated microwave photonic systems that are still difficult to achieve simultaneously. In this work, we demonstrate an integrated microwave photonic circuit that can be reconfigured for two distinct RF functions, namely, a tunable notch filter and a phase shifter. We achieved >50 dB highextinction notch filtering over 6-16 GHz and 2 pi continuously tunable phase shifting over 12-20 GHz frequencies. At the same time, we implemented an on-chip linearization technique to achieve a spurious-free dynamic range of more than 120 dB center dot Hz(4/5) for both functions. Our work combines multi-functionality and linearization in one photonic integrated circuit and paves the way to reconfigurable RF photonic front-ends with very high performance. (C) 2023 Author(s). All article content, except where otherwise noted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0148464

Automated summary

In this study, an integrated microwave photonic circuit capable of reconfigurable notch filtering and phase shifting functions in the radio frequency range is demonstrated. The circuit achieves high extinction notch filtering and continuously tunable phase shifting over specific frequency ranges. Furthermore, a linearization technique is implemented to improve the dynamic range of the circuit.