A high sensitivity photonic frequency discriminator for low phase noise tunable micro/mm wave synthesis

A novel high sensitivity photonic frequency discriminator is implemented for a low phase noise tunable micro/mm wave synthesizer. In a proof-of-concept demonstration, a low phase noise tunable opto-electronic oscillator (6 - 18 GHz) and a low phase noise tunable heterodyne beat from two independent cw lasers (10 - 30 GHz) are demonstrated via locking to the photonic frequency discriminator.