Comb-based radiofrequency photonic filters with rapid tunability and high selectivity

Photonic technologies have received considerable attention regarding the enhancement of radiofrequency electrical systems, including high-frequency analogue signal transmission, control of phased arrays, analog-to-digital conversion and signal processing. Although the potential of radiofrequency photonics for the implementation of tunable electrical filters over broad radiofrequency bandwidths has been much discussed, the realization of programmable filters with highly selective filter lineshapes and rapid reconfigurability has faced significant challenges. A new approach for radiofrequency photonic filters based on frequency combs offers a potential route to simultaneous high stopband attenuation, fast tunability and bandwidth reconfiguration. In one configuration, tuning of the radiofrequency passband frequency is demonstrated with unprecedented (∼40 ns) speed by controlling the optical delay between combs. In a second, fixed filter configuration, cascaded four-wave mixing simultaneously broadens and smoothes the comb spectra, resulting in Gaussian radiofrequency filter lineshapes exhibiting an extremely high (>60 dB) main lobe to sidelobe suppression ratio and (>70 dB) stopband attenuation.