Harmonic active mode-locking optoelectronic oscillator with suppressed supermode noise based on pulse intensity feedback

Abstract

A harmonic active mode-locking optoelectronic oscillator (HAML-OEO) with pulse intensity feedback is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. It is capable of generating microwave pulses characterized by suppressed supermode noise, uniform intensity, and tunable repetition rates. Unlike traditional HAML-OEOs, active mode-locking and pulse intensity feedback are simultaneously achieved through the use of a dual-drive Mach–Zehnder modulator (DDMZM). By synchronously feeding back the generated microwave pulses to the DDMZM, each pulse undergoes a loss proportional to its intensity, facilitating pulse intensity equalization and supermode noise suppression. In the experiment, intensity-equalized microwave pulse trains with repetition rates of 499 kHz and 998 kHz are generated by the 5th- and 10th-order HAML-OEOs, respectively, with the measured supermode noise suppression ratios exceeding 40 dB.