Instantaneous Microwave Frequency Measurement Using an Optical Phase Modulator

A novel technique for instantaneous microwave frequency measurement using an optical phase modulator is proposed and demonstrated. In the proposed system, a microwave signal with its frequency to be measured is modulated on two optical wavelengths at the phase modulator, with the phase-modulated optical signals sent to a dispersive element, and detected at two photo-detectors. Due to the chromatic dispersion of the dispersive element, the two microwave signals will experience different power fading, leading to different power versus frequency functions. A fixed relationship between the microwave frequency and the microwave powers is established. By measuring the microwave powers, the microwave frequency is estimated. Compared with the techniques using an intensity modulator, the proposed approach is simpler with less loss. Since no bias is needed the system has a better stability, which is highly expected for defense applications. Experimental verification is presented.