Widely tunable silicon photonics optoelectronic oscillator with a high-finesse waveguide resonator

Abstract

We report on an optoelectronic oscillator scheme relying on an ultra-compact integrated microwave photonic filter realized in silicon on insulator technology and based on a high-performance waveguide Fabry–Perot resonator. The nearly free-spectral-range-free feature of the photonic integrated filter permitted a record tunability between 3.5 and 37 GHz, only limited by the bandwidth of the on-chip electro-optic modulator and of RF devices in the oscillator loop. Experimental characterization of the oscillating signals illustrates an almost constant phase-noise power spectral density of ∼−110   dBc / Hz at 1 MHz offset from the carrier over the entire considered tuning range.