A photonics-based radar with generation and de-chirp processing of broadband linear frequency modulated continuous-wave (LFMCW) signal in optical domain is proposed for high-resolution and real-time inverse synthetic aperture radar (ISAR) imaging. In the proposed system, a broadband LFMCW signal is generated by a photonic frequency quadrupler based on a single integrated electro-optical modulator, and the echoes reflected from the targets are de-chirped to a low frequency signal by a microwave photonic frequency mixer. The proposed radar can operate at a high frequency with a large bandwidth, and thus achieve an ultra-high range resolution for ISAR imaging. Thanks to the wideband photonic de-chirp technique, the radar receiver could apply low-speed analog-to-digital conversion and mature digital signal processing, which makes real-time ISAR imaging possible. A K-band photonics-based radar with an instantaneous bandwidth of 8 GHz (18-26 GHz) is established and its performance for ISAR imaging is experimentally investigated. Results show that a recorded two-dimensional imaging resolution of ~2 cm × ~2 cm is achieved with a sampling rate of 100 MSa/s in the receiver. Besides, fast ISAR imaging with 100 frames per second is verified. The proposed radar is an effective solution to overcome the limitations on operation bandwidth and processing speed of current radar imaging technologies, which may enable applications where high-resolution and real-time radar imaging is required.

Real-time and high-resolution target detection is highly desirable in modern radar applications. Electronic techniques have encountered grave difficulties in the development of such radars, which strictly rely on a large instantaneous bandwidth. In this article, a photonics-based real-time high-range-resolution radar is proposed with optical generation and processing of broadband linear frequency modulation (LFM) signals. A broadband LFM signal is generated in the transmitter by photonic frequency quadrupling, and the received echo is de-chirped to a low frequency signal by photonic frequency mixing. The system can operate at a high frequency and a large bandwidth while enabling real-time processing by low-speed analog-to-digital conversion and digital signal processing. A conceptual radar is established. Real-time processing of an 8-GHz LFM signal is achieved with a sampling rate of 500 MSa/s. Accurate distance measurement is implemented with a maximum error of 4 mm within a range of ~3.5 meters. Detection of two targets is demonstrated with a range-resolution as high as 1.875 cm. We believe the proposed radar architecture is a reliable solution to overcome the limitations of current radar on operation bandwidth and processing speed, and it is hopefully to be used in future radars for real-time and high-resolution target detection and imaging.

A scheme for photonic generation of linearly chirped microwave waveforms (LCMWs) with a large time-bandwidth product (TBWP) is proposed and demonstrated based on an optically injected semiconductor laser. In the proposed system, the optically injected semiconductor laser is operated in period-one (P1) oscillation state. After optical-to-electrical conversion, a microwave signal can be generated with its frequency determined by the injection strength. By properly controlling the injection strength, an LCMW with a large TBWP can be generated. The proposed system has a simple and compact structure. Besides, the center frequency, bandwidth, as well as the temporal duration of the generated LCMWs can be easily adjusted. An experiment is carried out. LCMWs with TBWPs as large as 1.2x10⁵ (bandwidth 12 GHz; temporal duration 10 μs) are successfully generated. The flexibility for tuning the center frequency, bandwidth and temporal duration is also demonstrated.

A scheme to generate a flat optical frequency comb (OFC) with a fixed phase relationship between the comb lines is proposed and experimentally demonstrated based on a cascaded polarization modulator (PolM) and phase modulator. Because the PolM introduces more controllable parameters compared with the conventional intensity modulator, 9, 11, and 13 comb lines can be generated with relatively low RF powers, or 15, 17, and 19 comb lines can be obtained if high RF powers are applied. The experimentally generated 9, 11, and 13 OFCs have a flatness of 1, 1.3, and 2.1 dB, respectively. The scheme requires no DC bias to the modulators, no optical filter, and no frequency divider or multiplier, which is simple and stable.

An optical true time delay (TTD) unit capable of adding independent time delays to multiple RF signals is proposed, which can be used for multi-beamforming in both transmit and receive modes. In the proposed unit, N RF signals with different center frequencies are modulated on an optical frequency comb (OFC). After transmission through a dispersive element, the RF-modulated OFC is split into N paths. In each path, a comb line is selected by a tunable optical filter. Thanks to the chromatic dispersion of the dispersive element, independently-controllable TTDs can be obtained in all paths. Then, a microwave photonic filter (MPF) is incorporated in each path, allowing a designated RF signal to undergo the TTD in that path. A proof-of-concept experiment is carried out. A two-path unit with a low-pass MPF in one path and a high-pass MPF in the other path is built. Controllable TTDs up to ~1.4 ns with a step of ~69 ps are demonstrated based on a 25-GHz-spacing OFC. In addition, a wideband multi-beam phased-array antenna system that can work in both transmit and receive modes is designed using the proposed TTD unit.