Agile photonic arbitrary waveform generation based on a single CW laser

We propose and demonstrate a new and extremely simple concept of reconfigurable photonic generation of arbitrary RF waveforms, based on a single CW laser and a frequency shifting loop. Our system does not require broadband light source or fast electronic generator. It is capable of generating arbitrary RF waveforms with duration ranging from 1 ns to more than 100 ns, and with dynamic performances beyond state of the art photonic AWG techniques (spectral bandwidth > 25 GHz, TBWP > 500, limited by detection). Our concept, which can be seen as spectral shaping with a resolution in the MHz range, is expected to open a wide range of applications in microwave photonics.