Microwave Signal Spectrum Broadening System Based on Time Compression

We propose and experimentally demonstrate an all-optical radio frequency (RF) spectrum broadening system based on time compression. By utilizing the procedure of dispersion compensation values, the frequency domain is broadened by compressing the linear chirp optical pulse which has been multiplexed by the radio frequency. A detailed mathematical description elucidates that the time compression is a very preferred scheme for spectrum broadening. We also report experimental results to prove this method, magnification factor at 2.7, 8 and 11 have been tested with different dispersion values of fiber, the experimental results agree well with the theoretical results. The proposed system is flexible and the magnification factor is determined by the dispersion values, the proposed scheme is a linear system. In addition, the influence of key parameters, for instance optical bandwidth and the sideband suppression ratio (SSR), are discussed. Magnification factor 11 of the proposed system is demonstrated.