Microwave Photonics – From Concepts to Applications

Microwave photonics can be generally defined as the study of high-speed photonic devices operating at microwave or millimeter wave frequencies and their use in microwave or photonic systems. In this multidisciplinary field at the interface between microwave techniques, ultra fast electronics and photonic technologies, typical investigations include, for example, high-speed and microwave signal generation, processing and conversion as well as the distribution and transmission of microwave signals via broadband optical links. From pioneering experiments in the 70 ́s, this field of microwave photonics has paved the way for an enabling novel technology with a number of commercially important applications. This paper is intended to give an overview on this multidisciplinary field of microwave and millimeter wave photonics.