Abstract

We present a study of the mixing of a radio frequency (RF) signal and a modulated optical beam, resulting from the beating of two CW lasers, using a photoconductive switch as mixer. The mixing process generates sideband frequencies in the RF transmitted signal. The theoretical analysis gives the performance of the device versus its main physical parameters. The device, if made from ultrafast semiconductors, can handle RF or/and optical beating frequencies up to 100 GHz. When dc biased, the device serves as an optoelectronic generator of RF signal. Our analysis is experimentally validated in the RF range up to 40 GHz using a low-temperature grown GaAs device excited by two laser diodes at 0.8-μm wavelength.

© 2014 IEEE

Gallium arsenide metal–semiconductor–metal photodiodes as optoelectronic mixers for microwave single–sideband modulation

Gordon Wood Anderson, L. Eugene Chipman, Francis J. Kub, Doewon Park, Michael Y. Frankel, Thomas F. Carruthers, John A. Modolo, Karl D. Hobart, and D. Scott Katzer
Appl. Opt. 37(1) 28-33 (1998)

Silicon microring modulator-based RF mixer for millimeter-wave phase-coded signal generation

Yiwei Xie, Leimeng Zhuang, and Arthur James Lowery
Opt. Lett. 42(14) 2742-2745 (2017)

Optical mixing of microwave signals in a nonlinear semiconductor laser amplifier modulator

José Capmany, Salvador Sales, Daniel Pastor, and Beatriz Ortega
Opt. Express 10(3) 183-189 (2002)

Integrated optical modulator for signal up-conversion over radio-on-fiber link

Woo-Kyung Kim, Soon-Woo Kwon, Woo-Jin Jeong, Geun-Sik Son, Kwang-Hyun Lee, Woo-Young Choi, Woo-Seok Yang, Hyung-Man Lee, and Han-Young Lee
Opt. Express 17(4) 2638-2645 (2009)

Tunable OEO-based photonic RF receiver with image frequency rejection

Kang Xiao, Xiaofeng Jin, Xiangdong Jin, Xianbin Yu, Qinggui Tan, and Guoyong Wang
Appl. Opt. 58(8) 2127-2131 (2019)