RF Frequency Shifting via Optically Switched Dual Channel PZT Fiber Stretchers英文文献.pdfVIP

3782 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON MICROWAVE THEORY AND TECHNIQUES, VOL. 53, NO. 12, DECEMBER 2005 RF Frequency Shifting via Optically Switched Dual-Channel PZT Fiber Stretchers Christopher S. McDermitt and Frank Bucholtz, Member, IEEE Abstract—We demonstrate a new technique for RF serrodyne frequency shifting with ultrahigh sideband suppression. This is accomplished using two parallel optically switched piezo fiber stretchers driven with two out-of-phase serrodyne modulations. We achieved sideband suppression of nearly 50 dB, an improve- ment of almost 30 dB compared to the standard fiber stretching approach. The frequency shifter is easily integrated into photonic and RF systems, is functional in certain broad-band applications, and allows for tunable translations. Index Terms—Microwave frequency translation, optical signal processing, piezo (PZT) fiber stretchers, serrodyne modulation. Fig. 1. Important characteristics of serrodyne modulation. I. INTRODUCTION F PHASE shifters play an important role in modern elec- Rtronic systems. The fundamental goal of most frequency shifters is to maximize the suppression of sidebands. As shown in Fig. 1, serrodyning—applying a sawtooth phase modulation—is a conventionally used method for frequency shifting. Optical frequency shifters with high sideband suppression include ser- rodyne modulation of waveguides [1] and switched channel moving reflectors [2]. However, RF frequency shifts require 10 larger ramps in delay time and are produced by physically changing the fiber length—and, therefore, the time delay—with a sawtooth driven piezoelectric actuator [3]. Unfortunately, a perfect linear sawtooth with infinitely f