A Low Noise Hybrid Microwave Photonic Module for Passive Phased array

This paper presents the design and implementation of an externally modulated hybrid microwave photonic module, which is suitable for practical engineering of microwave photonic receiving array. The module consists of a multi-channel RF front-end, a DFB laser, and an electro-optic modulator. The low noise and high gain of the multi-channel RF front-end reduce the deterioration of the optical link to the system noise figure, thus extending the dynamic range. After testing, the noise figure of the module is less than 5 dB, and the spurious free dynamic range is more than 110 dB/Hz. Based on these modules with different wavelength optical carriers, the conventional passive phased array can be improved into an incoherent microwave photonic receiving array.