Instantaneous Microwave Frequency Measurement Based on Phase-Modulated Links With Interferometric Detection

Author

Xu, Kun ; Dai, Jian ; Duan, Ruimin ; Dai, Yitang ; Li, Yan ; Wu, Jian ; Lin, Jintong

Author_Institution

Key Lab. of Inf. Photonics & Opt. Commun., Beijing Univ. of Posts & Telecommun., Beijing, China

Volume

23

Issue

18

fYear

2011

Firstpage

1328

Lastpage

1330

Abstract

A novel instantaneous frequency measurement scheme based on phase-modulated links with interferometric detection is experimentally demonstrated. Due to the different time delays of the Mach-Zehnder interferometers (MZIs), the free spectral ranges of the two channels transmission responses would also be different. By comparing them, we establish the amplitude comparison function (ACF). Through the unique relationship between the ACF and the microwave frequency, the microwave frequency to be measured can be estimated easily. The proof-of-concept experimental results show that the measurement errors can be kept within 0.2 GHz over a frequency range of 3.5-10 GHz. In addition, the measurement range can be adjusted by tuning the time delays of the MZIs.

Keywords

Mach-Zehnder interferometers; frequency measurement; optical modulation; optical tuning; phase modulation; Mach-Zehnder interferometers; amplitude comparison function; instantaneous frequency measurement; interferometric detection; microwave frequency measurement; phase-modulated links; time delay tuning; Frequency measurement; Frequency modulation; Microwave frequencies; Microwave photonics; Optical interferometry; Interferometric detection; microwave frequency measurement; microwave photonics; phase modulation;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Photonics Technology Letters, IEEE

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1041-1135

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/LPT.2011.2160336

Filename

5953471