Microwave Photonic Link Technologies
Summary
Microwave photonic links harness the capacity of optical fibres to carry microwave and millimetre‐wave signals with minimal loss and immunity to electromagnetic interference. By converting electrical radio‐frequency (RF) signals into optical form via modulators and reconverting them at the receiver, these systems deliver exceptionally wide instantaneous bandwidths and low latency over kilometres. Key performance metrics include spurious‐free dynamic range, noise figure and linearity, which determine the fidelity of signal transmission for applications in radar, satellite communications, 5G and beyond, as well as scientific instrumentation. Recent advances in photonic integration, dispersion management and distortion suppression have bolstered link robustness and miniaturisation, enabling compact modules suitable for airborne, spaceborne and mobile platforms. Through innovations in modulator design, optical filtering and balanced detection, microwave photonic links now achieve multi‐octave bandwidths and dynamic ranges exceeding 120 dB·Hz^(2/3), supporting high-capacity radio-over-fibre networks and next-generation wireless backhaul with scalability across frequency bands from sub-GHz to tens of GHz.
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Microwave Photonic Link Technologies publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in microwave photonic link technologies across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Microwave photonic link: An optical transmission system that conveys microwave or millimetre-wave signals over fibre by converting between electrical and optical domains.
Mach–Zehnder modulator (MZM): An interferometric device that imposes intensity or phase modulation on an optical carrier in response to an applied electrical signal.
Spurious-free dynamic range (SFDR): The range between the noise floor and the onset of distortion products, quantifying the linear operating span of a link.
Intermodulation distortion (IMD): Nonlinear signal mixing that generates unwanted frequencies at sums and differences of original tones.
Optical ring resonator: A compact photonic component in which light circulates in a closed loop, used for selective filtering and dispersion control.
References
- Linearity optimization of multi-octave analog photonic links based on power weighting, polarization multiplexing and bias control.. Optics Express (2021).
- Elimination of odd and even intermodulation distortions of analog microwave photonics link based on GaAs MZMs.. Optics Express (2020).
- Linearized phase modulated microwave photonic link based on integrated ring resonators.. Optics Express (2020).
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