Tunable and broadband microwave frequency combs based on a semiconductor laser with incoherent optical feedback

• Published in: Chinese physics B Vol. 24; no. 5; pp. 363 - 368
• Main Author: 赵茂戎 吴正茂 邓涛 周桢力 夏光琼
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01.05.2015
• Subjects: Broadband; Delay; Feedback; Mathematical models; Microwave frequencies; Optical feedback; Semiconductor lasers; Strength; 光反馈; 半导体激光器; 反馈强度; 宽带; 微波频率; 微生物燃料电池; 调谐范围; 非相干
• ISSN: 1674-1056; 2058-3834; 1741-4199
• DOI: 10.1088/1674-1056/24/5/054207

Based on a semiconductor laser （SL） with incoherent optical feedback, a novel all-optical scheme for generating tunable and broadband microwave frequency combs （MFCs） is proposed and investigated numerically. The results show that, under suitable operation parameters, the SL with incoherent optical feedback can be driven to operate at a regular pulsing state, and the generated MFCs have bandwidths broader than 40 GHz within a 10 dB amplitude variation. For a fixed bias current, the line spacing （or repetition frequency） of the MFCs can be easily tuned by varying the feedback delay time and the feedback strength, and the tuning range of the line spacing increases with the increase in the bias current. The linewidth of the MFCs is sensitive to the variation of the feedback delay time and the feedback strength, and a linewidth of tens of KHz can be achieved through finely adjusting the feedback delay time and the feedback strength. In addition, mappings of amplitude variation, repetition frequency, and linewidth of MFCs in the parameter space of the feedback delay time and the feedback strength are presented.