Processing RF signals using low-power Brillouin nonlinearities

Abstract

Processing of RF signals using photonics is becoming increasingly important owing to 5G and up-coming 6G applications. One important functionality that is desirable for the high-capacity and flexible communication systems is fast tunable and reconfigurable RF filtering. There are several optical technologies that achieve low-resolution filters which are only relevant for coarse signal processing (>500 MHz). Stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) enables Megahertz resolutions and can bridge high-resolution and coarse resolution signal processing [1]. However, bandwidth tailoring of Brillouin responses requires large optical powers to generate multiple pumps and thus makes the system very power-inefficient [2-4].