Tunable photonic microwave generation by directly modulating a dual-wavelength amplified feedback laser

A compact and simple approach to realizing tunable high-frequency photonic microwave using a directly-modulated dual-wavelength amplified feedback laser (AFL) diode is demonstrated. By directly modulating the AFL at the 1/2 sub-harmonic frequency of its fundamental mode spacing, frequency-doubled microwave is generated. At a low RF driven power of 2.8 dBm, tunable microwave outputs ranging from 15 GHz to 33 GHz are obtained with 2-GHz locking range. The phase noise and frequency stability of the generated microwave signal are also investigated. The proposed scheme requires much lower RF driven power and can be a viable choice for situations where high power and high frequency RF signal is not available.