RF photonic signal processing components: From high order tunable filters to high stability tunable oscillators

We report on our research and development efforts toward realizing tunable RF photonic filters and tunable local oscillators. In particular, we demonstrate a high order RF photonic filter having 250–1000 MHz bandwidth and more than 70 dBc rejection rate at 2 GHz detuning from the pass-band center. The filter can be tuned across 1–40 GHz frequency range. We also report on our design of a compact tunable RF photonic oscillator with phase noise less than −140 dBc at 100 kHz. The frequency of the oscillator can be tuned from 20 GHz till 35 GHz. We present a theoretical analysis of the capabilities of the devices as well as recent experimental data.