Reconfigurable single-shot incoherent optical signal processing system for chirped microwave signal compression

We propose and demonstrate a reconfigurable and single-shot incoherent optical signal processing system for chirped microwave signal compression, using a programmable optical filter and a multi-wavelength laser (MWL). The system is implemented by temporally modulating a specially shaped MWL followed by a suitable linear dispersive medium. A microwave dispersion value up to 1.33 ns/GHz over several GHz bandwidth is achieved based on this approach. Here we demonstrate a single-shot compression for different linearly chirped microwave signals over several GHz bandwidth. In addition, the robustness of the proposed system when input RF signals are largely distorted is also discussed.