A fiber optic recirculating memory loop operating at microwave frequencies

The use of optical fibers as the delay line elements in high-frequency memory loops provides light-weight and small-size devices with long time delays. The authors present a performance analysis and experimental results on a 2-6 GHz fiber-optic recirculating delay line. It is shown that microseconds delays can be achieved using the fiber-optic memory loop (FOML) in the 2 to 6 GHz band. The main advantages of the FOML devices are long delay times, in excess of 100 mu s, a reduction in weight and size by an order of magnitude or more, and immunity to interference (electromagnetic interference and electromagnetic pulse).<>