Optoelectronic oscillators for microwave and mm-wave generation

Abstract

Photonics based oscillators generate mm-wave signals with high spectral purity at frequencies as high as 100 GHz, and beyond. The use of optical components provides the added benefit of reduced size and power consumption, while maintaining low phase noise. This paper reviews the basis of the optoelectronic techniques on which photonics oscillators are based, and provides a review for the latest advances in the field.