Photonic Microwave Bandpass Filter With Negative Coefficients Using a Polarization Modulator

A novel photonic microwave bandpass filter with negative coefficients implemented using a polarization modulator (PolM) is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. In the proposed filter, a lightwave from a tunable laser source (TLS) is sent to a PolM, with the incident lightwave adjusted to have its polarization direction aligned at an angle of plusmn45deg to the principal axes of the PolM. A microwave signal is applied to the PolM through its RF port. Thanks to the polarization modulation in the PolM, two complementary microwave signals with identical amplitudes carried by two optical carriers with orthogonal polarizations are generated. The two complementary optical microwave signals are then sent to an optical delay line consisting of one section or two sections of polarization-maintaining fiber (PMF), with the polarization directions aligned with the fast and slow axes of the PMF. A photonic microwave bandpass filter with two or four taps is obtained