Demonstration of a photonically controlled RF phase shifter

Abstract

Integrated photonic radio frequency (RF) phase shifters with dc voltage control have been realized using a nested dual Mach-Zehnder modulator configuration in a new nonlinear optical polymer, CLD2-ISX. These modulators have a V/sub /spl pi// of 10.8 V and exhibit excellent frequency performance measured up to 20 GHz. A near linear phase shift exceeding 108/spl deg/ was obtained for a 16-GHz microwave signal by tuning the dc control voltage over a 7.8-V range. It is expected that these integrated polymer phase shifters will find widespread applications in new types of lightweight optically controlled phased array systems.