Abstract
A filter-less millimeter-wave generation scheme consisting of four polarization modulators in series, each followed by a polarizer is proposed to achieve optoelectronic frequency octupling. The cascade of polarization modulator and polarizer provides an intensity modulator whose biasing condition can be set by the polarizer angle and polarization state of the input light to each polarization modulator. A theoretical analysis of the architecture is performed using a transfer function method and validated by industry-standard software simulation tools. The circuit shows high potential in achieving desired performance with lower input RF power when compared to the another configuration based on a generalized Mach–Zehnder interferometer structure. Although the operating range in terms of applied RF drive becomes narrow, low RF input operation can be achieved by this circuit. The effect of imbalances in the key circuit parameters is also investigated in terms of electrical side harmonic suppression ratio.
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The datasets used and analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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Acknowledgements
Mehedi Hasan acknowledges the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) for their support through the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship program. Karin Hinzer is grateful to D & T Photonics and MITACS for their support through the MITACS accelerate award number IT07662. Trevor Hall is grateful to the University of Ottawa for their support of his University Research Chair.
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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Numerical Simulation of Optoelectronic Devices, NUSOD’ 18.
Guest edited by Paolo Bardella, Weida Hu, Slawomir Sujecki, Stefan Schulz, Silvano Donati, Angela Traenhardt.
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Hasan, G.M., Hasan, M., Shang, H. et al. Energy efficient photonic millimeter-wave generation using cascaded polarization modulators. Opt Quant Electron 51, 217 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11082-019-1927-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11082-019-1927-4