RF photonic receiver with Zooming capability

Abstract

We have demonstrated an RF photonic receiver with agile tunable reception center frequency as well as bandwidth. The RF Q-factor of the receiver was modified from unity to 30,000, and the frequency was changed from 30 MHz to 3 GHz. The device is realized for VHF/UHF tactical radio applications; however, the technology allows modifying the center frequency of the receiver within much broader frequency range. The receiver front-end paves a way for development of a new generation of agile multi-octave tunable RF photonic devices. This research was supported by the Office of Naval Research (Contract #N00014-12-C-0166).