Dual-Chirp Microwave Waveform Generation Using a Dual-Parallel Mach-Zehnder Modulator

A photonic approach to generating a dual-chirp microwave waveform using a single dual-parallel Mach-Zehnder modulator (DPMZM) is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. A dual-chirp microwave waveform can be used in a radar system to improve its range-Doppler resolution. In the proposed approach, a baseband single-chirp waveform is applied to one sub-Mach-Zehndermodulator (sub-MZM) in the DPMZM and a microwave carrier is applied to the other sub-MZM. By biasing the two sub-MZMs at the minimum transmission point to suppress the optical carrier, a dual-chirp microwave waveform with a central frequency upconverted to the frequency of the microwave carrier is generated. A theoretical analysis is performed, which is then verified by a proof-of-concept experiment. A dual-chirp microwave waveform at 6 GHz with a tunable bandwidth at 200 MHz and 2 GHz is generated.