Novel tunable microwave photonic notch filter using a 3 × 3 coupler based Sagnac loop

We propose a simple and stable structure to realize a tunable negative coefficients microwave photonic notch filter. A 3 × 3 coupler based Sagnac loop interferometer with an asymmetrically placed phase modulator is used to acquire the notches. Our system is simply implemented and with good stability. Theoretical analysis and experimental results are presented and show a good agreement. The structure is proved to be a robust filter with more than 35 dB rejection deep notches.