Broadband and low loss capability of photonics has led to an ever-increasing interest in its use for the generation, processing, control and distribution of microwave and millimeter-wave signals for applications such as broadband wireless access networks, sensor networks, radar, satellite communitarians, instrumentation and warfare systems. In this tutorial, techniques developed in the last few years in microwave photonics are reviewed with an emphasis on the systems architectures for photonic generation and processing of microwave signals, photonic true-time delay beamforming, radio-over-fiber systems, and photonic analog-to-digital conversion. Challenges in system implementation for practical applications and new areas of research in microwave photonics are also discussed.

Microwave Photonics

The various arguments for introducing optical interconnections to silicon CMOS chips are summarized, and the challenges for optical, optoelectronic, and integration technologies are discussed. Optics could solve many physical problems of interconnects, including precise clock distribution, system synchronization (allowing larger synchronous zones, both on-chip and between chips), bandwidth and density of long interconnections, and reduction of power dissipation. Optics may relieve a broad range of design problems, such as crosstalk, voltage isolation, wave reflection, impedence matching, and pin inductance. It may allow continued scaling of existing architectures and enable novel highly interconnected or high-bandwidth architectures. No physical breakthrough is required to implement dense optical interconnects to silicon chips, though substantial technological work remains. Cost is a significant barrier to practical introduction, though revolutionary approaches exist that might achieve economies of scale. An Appendix analyzes scaling of on-chop global electrical interconnects, including line inductance and the skin effect, both of which impose significant additional constraints on future interconnects.

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Rationale and challenges for optical interconnects to electronic chips

Microwave photonics is an area that studies the generation, processing, control and transmission of microwave signals by means of photonics. In this paper, microwave photonics techniques developed in the past few years will be reviewed, with an emphasis on system architectures for microwave applications.

http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/iel5/6305327/6320324/06320333.pdf

Microwave photonics

A significant enhancement of photoresponse from the light-controlled conductive switching based on Cu2O/rGO nanocomposites was experimentally demonstrated. Cu2O/rGO nanocomposites were synthesized via a facile wet-reduced method. The crystalline structure, morphologies, and photoluminescence of the Cu2O/rGO nanocomposites were characterized and analyzed. The fabricated conductive switching was measured under the irradiation of a continuous laser. When the laser was turned on and off alternately, the photoconductive switching obviously displayed a state conversion between “on” and “off” reversibly. Furthermore, the typical current–voltage (I–V) and current–time (I–t) curves exhibited a relatively high switching ratio (Ion/Ioff) of 3.25 and a fast response time of 0.45 s. The excellent “on–off” characteristics of the device show promising applications in memory storage and logic circuits.

Enhanced performance of light-controlled conductive switching in hybrid cuprous oxide/reduced graphene oxide (Cu 2 O/rGO) nanocomposites

Traditionally, tumours have been categorized on the basis of histology. However, the staining pattern of cancer cells viewed under the microscope is insufficient to reflect the complicated underlying molecular events that drive the neoplastic process. By surveying thousands of genes at once, using DNA arrays, it is now possible to read the molecular signature of an individual patient's tumour. When the signature is analysed with clustering algorithms, new classes of cancer emerge that transcend distinctions based on histological appearance alone. Using DNA arrays, protein arrays and appropriate experimental models, the ultimate goal is to move beyond correlation and classification to achieve new insights into disease mechanisms and treatment targets.

Molecular profiling of human cancer.

We have demonstrated a low-cost high-bandwidth and high-responsivity evanescent waveguide unitravelling-carrier photodiode (PD) fabricated using all 2-in InP processing including on-wafer mirrors and coating. Optimization of the optical input waveguide was made using the method of the genetic algorithm associated with a beam propagation method. Optical fiber coupling to the PD is based on a diluted multimode waveguide allowing simple material epitaxial growth. The fabricated PDs exhibit simultaneously 0.76-A/W responsivity at 1.55 /spl mu/m, >50-GHz bandwidth, and more than 22-mA average saturation photocurrent at 50 GHz. The light polarization dependence is less than 0.1 dB.

High performance evanescent edge coupled waveguide unitraveling-carrier photodiodes for >40-gb/s optical receivers

Stable microwave oscillators are realized based on high-quality factor resonators, which in turn are realized using acoustic, electromagnetic, and optical technologies. This article provides an overview of close-in carrier phase noise and temperature stability of various oscillators

Improving thermal stability of opto-electronic oscillators

High frequency, narrowband radio transmission over multimode fibre is shown to be possible with performance comparable to singlemode fibre using low-cost lasers and photodiodes. This allows the use of existing fibre cable infrastructures within buildings for the realisation of cost effective distributed antenna systems.

Radiofrequency transmission of 32-QAM signals over multimode fibre for distributed antenna system applications

The waveguide properties are reported for wide bandgap gallium nitride (GaN) structures grown by metal organic vapor phase epitaxy on sapphire using a AlN/GaN short period-superlattice (SPS) buffer layer system. A detailed optical characterization of GaN structures has been performed using the prism coupling technique in order to evaluate its properties and, in particular, the refractive index dispersion and the propagation loss. In order to identify the structural defects in the samples, we performed transmission electron microscopy analysis. The results suggest that AlN/GaN SPS plays a role in acting as a barrier to the propagation of threading dislocations in the active GaN epilayer; above this defective region, the dislocations density is remarkably reduced. The waveguide losses were reduced to a value around 0.65dB/cm at 1.55 μm, corresponding to the best value reported so far for a GaN-based waveguide.

Optical waveguide loss minimized into gallium nitride based structures grown by metal organic vapor phase epitaxy

In the letter we report gain measurements on N-type GaAs planar photoresistors which have been performed against temperature, for various light powers. A strong dependence of gain on temperature has been shown and interpreted in terms of trapping effects.

Didier Decoster

Papers

High performance evanescent edge coupled waveguide unitraveling-carrier photodiodes for >40-gb/s optical receivers

Improving thermal stability of opto-electronic oscillators

Radiofrequency transmission of 32-QAM signals over multimode fibre for distributed antenna system applications

Optical waveguide loss minimized into gallium nitride based structures grown by metal organic vapor phase epitaxy

Temperature effects on high-gain photoconductive detectors