Wideband Microwave Frequency Division Based on an Optoelectronic Oscillator

A novel wideband microwave frequency divider based on a single-loop optoelectronic oscillator (OEO) is proposed and demonstrated. The Mach-Zehnder modulator in the OEO is biased at the carrier suppression point to generate the ±1st order optical sidebands by the input frequency and the oscillating frequency, which produces an intermediate-frequency (IF) signal at a photodetector. If the IF frequency is half of the input frequency, optoelectronic oscillation is established, which outputs an RF signal with a frequency that is 1/2 of the input frequency. Because there are no filters incorporated in the OEO loop, the operation frequency range is broad. In a proof-of-concept experiment, the input signal with a frequency ranging from 12 to 20 GHz (or from 20 to 36 GHz) is successfully divided into 6 to 10 GHz (or 10 to 18 GHz). The maximum power ripple is 2.92 dB, and the phase noise improvement is 5.71 dB, which agrees well with the theoretical value.