Fiber optics for microwave applications

Summary form only given. In the past few years there has been significant progress in fiber-optic components and technology applicable to microwave (analog) systems. Notable advances include high-power lasers and amplifiers, low-V 1/4 modulators, and high-power photodetectors, all well-suited for GHz operation. This paper presents some of the current capabilities and limitations of fiber optics (primarily for wideband applications) as divided into four areas: sources/generation, receivers/detection, transmission, and microwave signal processing (including beamforming, filtering, switching, variable delay and microwave circuit control).