0.5 – 40 GHz range extension of a compact Electronic Support Measures scanning receiver based on photonics

Abstract

A simple and effective technique is introduced to upgrade the operative bandwidth of a compact photonics-based ESM scanning receiver. The original 0.5 – 10.5 GHz covered frequency range is experimentally demonstrated to broaden to 28.5 GHz, limited by laboratory constraints, and a simulative analysis ensures exceeding the 0.5 – 40 GHz goal by simply employing commercially available electro-optical devices accepting higher RF driving voltages. The receiver upgrade relies on a simple and novel technique that triples the number of lines in the exploited optical comb. Photonic integration of the whole receiver will enable next generation ESM systems with further improved compactness and performance.