Tunable Wideband Differential Interferometer for RF Photonic LinksAward last edited on: 10/19/2024
Sponsored Program
STTRAwarding Agency
DOD : NavyTotal Award Amount
$1,237,395Award Phase
2Solicitation Topic Code
N21B-T019Principal Investigator
Suwat ThaniyavarnCompany Information
Phase I
Contract Number: N68335-21-C-0788Start Date: 9/13/2021 Completed: 3/21/2022
Phase I year
2021Phase I Amount
$239,938Benefit:
High-performance RF/Analog fiber-optic links are used to remote sensitive RF signals from antenna to RF processors. A typical fiber-optic link utilizes a Mach-Zehnder amplitude modulator placed at remote antenna site. The amplitude modulator requires a DC bias electronics to set and maintain the proper linear operating at the remote site with varying temperature which is undesirable. An alternative amplitude modulation link architecture utilizes phase-to-amplitude conversion devices, such as a differential Mach-Zehnder interferometer (DMZI) to convert a phase-modulated link signal to an amplitude-modulated link signal directly prior to photo detection, thereby removing the need for any bias electronics at the RF encoding point. Although the phase modulation is broadband, the phase-to-amplitude conversion process results in links limited in bandwidth. The development of a low-loss tunable phase-to-amplitude conversion elements will allow the use of a bias-free phase modulated fiber-optic link covering wide RF frequency range.
Keywords:
differential interferometer, differential interferometer, RF-over-fiber, Microwave Photonics, Phase Modulation, Fiber Optic, balanced link, RF/analog
Phase II
Contract Number: N68335-23-C-0289Start Date: 5/31/2023 Completed: 6/9/2025
Phase II year
2023Phase II Amount
$997,457Benefit:
High-performance RF/Analog fiber-optic links are used to remote sensitive RF signals from antenna to RF processors. A typical fiber-optic link utilizes a Mach-Zehnder amplitude modulator placed at remote antenna site. The amplitude modulator requires a DC bias electronics to set and maintain the proper linear operating at the remote site with varying temperature which is undesirable. An alternative amplitude modulation link architecture utilizes phase-to-amplitude conversion devices, such as a differential Mach-Zehnder interferometer (DMZI) to convert a phase-modulated link signal to an amplitude-modulated link signal directly prior to photo detection, thereby removing the need for any bias electronics at the RF encoding point. Although the phase modulation is broadband, the phase-to-amplitude conversion process results in links limited in bandwidth. The development of a low-loss tunable phase-to-amplitude conversion elements will allow the use of a bias-free phase modulated fiber-optic link covering wide RF frequency range.
Keywords:
Microwave Photonics, Phase Modulation, RF/analog, differential interferometer, balanced link, Fiber Optic, RF-over-fiber
