High-depth-resolution 3-dimensional radar-imaging system based on a few-cycle W-band photonic millimeter-wave pulse generator.

We demonstrate that a near-single-cycle photonic millimeter-wave short-pulse generator at W-band is capable to provide high spatial resolution three-dimensional (3-D) radar imaging. A preliminary study indicates that 3-D radar images with a state-of-the-art ranging resolution of around 1.2 cm at the W-band can be achieved.

Photonic chirped radio-frequency generator with ultra-fast sweeping rate and ultra-wide sweeping range.

A high-performance photonic sweeping-frequency (chirped) radio-frequency (RF) generator has been demonstrated. By use of a novel wavelength sweeping distributed-feedback (DFB) laser, which is operated based on the linewidth enhancement effect, a fixed wavelength narrow-linewidth DFB laser, and a wideband (dc to 50 GHz) photodiode module for the hetero-dyne beating RF signal generation, a very clear chirped RF waveform can be captured by a fast real-time scope. A very-high frequency sweeping rate (10.3 GHz/µs) with an ultra-wide RF frequency sweeping range (~40 GHz) have been demonstrated. The high-repeatability (~97%) in sweeping frequency has been verified by analyzing tens of repetitive chirped waveforms.

Design and demonstration of ultra-fast W-band photonic transmitter-mixer and detectors for 25 Gbits/sec error-free wireless linking.

A 25 Gbits/s error-free on-off-keying (OOK) wireless link between an ultra high-speed W-band photonic transmitter-mixer (PTM) and a fast W-band envelope detector is demonstrated. At the transmission end, the high-speed PTM is developed with an active near-ballistic uni-traveling carrier photodiode (NBUTC-PD) integrated with broadband front-end circuitry via the flip-chip bonding technique. Compared to our previous work, the wireless data rate is significantly increased through the improvement on the bandwidth of the front-end circuitry together with the reduction of the intermediate-frequency (IF) driving voltage of the active NBUTC-PD. The demonstrated PTM has a record-wide IF modulation (DC-25 GHz) and optical-to-electrical fractional bandwidths (68-128 GHz, ~67%). At the receiver end, the demodulation is realized with an ultra-fast W-band envelope detector built with a zero-bias Schottky barrier diode with a record wide video bandwidth (37 GHz) and excellent sensitivity. The demonstrated PTM is expected to find applications in multi-gigabit short-range wireless communication.