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Photonic generation of frequency-octupled and frequency-quadrupled microwave signals using a dual-parallel polarization modulator

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Abstract

An approach to generate microwave signal with tunable frequency multiplication factor (FMF) is presented based on an integratable electro-optic dual-parallel polarization modulator (DPPolM), which consists of a polarization beam splitter, two polarization modulators, and a polarization beam combiner. From a theoretical analysis, the frequency-octupled and frequency-quadrupled microwave signal can be generated respectively depending on the polarization direction of the polarizer after the DPPolM. Simulation results show that the frequency-octupled microwave signal with an optical sideband suppression ratio (OSSR) of 56.36 dB and a radio frequency spurious suppression ratio (RFSSR) of 49.24 dB, the frequency-quadrupled microwave signal with an OSSR of 41.15 dB and a RFSSR of 35.95 dB can be obtained, which match well with the theoretical analysis. The DPPolM based system is simple, compact, and able to generate high FMF microwave signal without an optical filter.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 61401502 and 61571461) and Natural Science Foundation of Shaanxi Province (Nos. 2016JQ6008 and 2016JQ6062).

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Correspondence to Zihang Zhu.

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Zhu, Z., Zhao, S., Li, X. et al. Photonic generation of frequency-octupled and frequency-quadrupled microwave signals using a dual-parallel polarization modulator. Opt Quant Electron 48, 398 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11082-016-0671-2

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