Stabilizing an optoelectronic microwave oscillator with photonic filters

Abstract

This paper compares methods of active stabilization of an optoelectronic microwave oscillator (OEO) based on insertion of a source of optical group delay into an OEO loop. The performance of an OEO stabilized with either a high-Q optical cavity or an atomic cell is analyzed. We show that the elements play a role of narrow-band microwave filters improving an OEO stability. An atomic cell also allows for locking the oscillation frequency to particular atomic clock transitions. This reports a proof-of-principle experiment on an OEO stabilization using the effect of electromagnetically induced transparency in a hot rubidium atomic vapor cell.