True Time Delay Optical Beamforming Network Based on Hybrid Inp-Silicon Nitride Integration
We demonstrate a broadband and continuously tunable 1×4 optical beamforming network (OBFN), based on the hybrid integration of indium phosphide (InP) components in the silicon nitride (Si 3 N 4 ) platform. The photonic integrated circuit (PIC) comprises a hybrid InP-Si 3 N 4 external cavity laser, a...
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Veröffentlicht in: | Journal of lightwave technology 2021-09, Vol.39 (18), p.5845-5854 |
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Sprache: | eng |
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Zusammenfassung: | We demonstrate a broadband and continuously tunable 1×4 optical beamforming network (OBFN), based on the hybrid integration of indium phosphide (InP) components in the silicon nitride (Si 3 N 4 ) platform. The photonic integrated circuit (PIC) comprises a hybrid InP-Si 3 N 4 external cavity laser, a pair of InP phase modulators, a Si 3 N 4 optical single-sideband full carrier (SSBFC) filter followed by four tunable optical true time delay lines (OTTDLs), and four InP photodetectors. Each OTTDL consists of eight cascaded thermo-optical micro-ring resonators (MRRs) that impose tunable true time delay on the propagating optical signals. The OBFN-PIC is designed to facilitate the steering of a microwave signal with carrier frequency up to 40 GHz over a continuous set of beam angles. We evaluate the performance of the OBFN-PIC to handle and process microwave signals, measuring the link gain, the noise figure (NF), and the spurious-free dynamic range (SFDR) parameters. Moreover, we assess its beamforming capabilities assuming that the OBFN-PIC is part of a wireless system operating in the downlink direction and feeds a multi-element antenna array. Using microwave signals at 5 and 10 GHz with quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) formats at 500 Mbaud, we evaluate the performance of the OBFN-PIC under various configurations. We show that error-free performance can be achieved at both operating frequencies and for all the investigated beam angles ranging from 45° to 135°, thus validating its potential for high-quality beamforming performance. |
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ISSN: | 0733-8724 1558-2213 |
DOI: | 10.1109/JLT.2021.3089881 |