An Optical-to-Microwave Converter

Abstract

February 2011 85 T he Optical-to-Microwave Converter Student Design Competition was sponsored by MTT-3 Microwave Photonics subcommittee. Fiber-optic links are attractive for remoting microwave signals. However, for many applications, the optical link still has limited output power and undesirable power effi ciency. These can be addressed by improving the optical-to-microwave conversion process in the link receiver. A cost-effective solution is to power-combine photodetectors inside the receiver. In this design competition, each student team was required to design a 1,3 GHz optical-to-microwave converter with greater than 10% bandwidth by power-combining four low-cost photodetectors supplied by Linear Photonics. The design goal was to achieve more than 20 dBm RF output power, at least 35 dBm third-order intercept point (OIP3), and greater than 5% power effi ciency.The goals of the MTT-3 subcommittee are: to facilitate the exchange of information about lightwave technology among members of the MTT-S, and to assist in educating the MTT-S community on the techniques and applicability of lightwave technology. The committee emphasizes important applications in both civilian and military fields, including guided-wave techniques, high-speed circuits, microwave techniques, and their combination and/or integration with optoelectronic devices.

Accelerated Fatigue Life Testing of Nicr-Cr₃C₂ Coating at Different Loads under Rolling Contact Condition

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