title: Reconfigurable radio-frequency arbitrary waveforms synthesized in a silicon photonic chip.
abstract: Photonic methods of radio-frequency waveform generation and processing can provide performance advantages and flexibility over electronic methods due to the ultrawide bandwidth offered by the optical carriers. However, bulk optics implementations suffer from the lack of integration and slow reconfiguration speed. Here we propose an architecture of integrated photonic radio-frequency generation and processing and implement it on a silicon chip fabricated in a semiconductor manufacturing foundry. Our device can generate programmable radio-frequency bursts or continuous waveforms with only the light source, electrical drives/controls and detectors being off-chip. It modulates an individual pulse in a radio-frequency burst within 4 ns, achieving a reconfiguration speed three orders of magnitude faster than thermal tuning. The on-chip optical delay elements offer an integrated approach to accurately manipulating individual radio-frequency waveform features without constraints set by the speed and timing jitter of electronics, and should find applications ranging from high-speed wireless to defence electronics.
authors.affiliation: School of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Birck Nanotechnology Centre, Purdue University, 1205W. State Street, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, USA.
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: School of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Birck Nanotechnology Centre, Purdue University, 1205W. State Street, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, USA.
authors.forename: Hao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.affiliation: School of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Birck Nanotechnology Centre, Purdue University, 1205W. State Street, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, USA.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.affiliation: School of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Birck Nanotechnology Centre, Purdue University, 1205W. State Street, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, USA.
authors.forename: Rui
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: School of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Birck Nanotechnology Centre, Purdue University, 1205W. State Street, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, USA.
authors.forename: Ben
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Niu
authors.affiliation: School of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Birck Nanotechnology Centre, Purdue University, 1205W. State Street, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, USA.
authors.forename: Leo T
authors.initials: LT
authors.lastname: Varghese
authors.affiliation: School of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Birck Nanotechnology Centre, Purdue University, 1205W. State Street, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, USA.
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xuan
authors.affiliation: School of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Birck Nanotechnology Centre, Purdue University, 1205W. State Street, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, USA.
authors.forename: Daniel E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Leaird
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Functional Materials for Informatics, Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 865 Changning Road, Shanghai 200050, China.
authors.forename: Xi
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Functional Materials for Informatics, Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 865 Changning Road, Shanghai 200050, China.
authors.forename: Fuwan
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gan
authors.affiliation: School of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Birck Nanotechnology Centre, Purdue University, 1205W. State Street, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, USA.
authors.forename: Andrew M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Weiner
authors.affiliation: 1] School of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Birck Nanotechnology Centre, Purdue University, 1205W. State Street, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, USA [2] State Key Laboratory of Functional Materials for Informatics, Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 865 Changning Road, Shanghai 200050, China.
authors.forename: Minghao
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Qi
mesh_terms: D004581:Electronics; D004867:Equipment Design; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000379:methods; D055096:Optical Devices; D055095:Optics and Photonics; D017785:Photons; D010825:Physics; D011846:Radio Waves; D012666:Semiconductors; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000295:instrumentation; D012825:Silicon / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D012825:Silicon