Microwave Photonic Based 1/n Frequency Divider

A new microwave photonic frequency divider is presented. It is capable of generating a microwave frequency component with a frequency of 1/n times the input microwave signal frequency. The 1/n frequency divider is implemented based on an optoelectronic oscillator consisting mainly of a dual-parallel Mach Zehnder modulator for microwave signal modulation and an optical filter for sideband suppression. Experimental results are presented which demonstrate 1/2 and 1/3 frequency component generation. The phase noise measurements show that the 1/2 and 1/3 frequency components have improved phase noise performance by 6 and 9 dB, respectively.