Overview and some comments around microwave photonics 10h15 didier de... · Overview and some comments around microwave – photonics ... DGA support Tripon-Canseliet, Pagies 2012

Overview and some comments around microwave – photonics Didier Decoster - IEMN

What is microwave – photonics ?

Introducing optics or optoelectronics to get - new microwave functions - improved microwave functionnalities (performance, more complex or complete, ….. ) Out of reach using conventional ways Mostly based on microwave systems using photonic or optoelectronic devices or sub - systems

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Application areas

Well known and developped: - Radio over Fiber (RoF) - Optical beam-forming for antennas - High spectral purity opto-microwave, mm wave, THz sources - Optical filtering for microwave systems …….. Emerging: - Terahertz wireless communication and systems - Photonic sampling of microwave signals …….. Focusing here on: RoF, beam-forming, optical sampling

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Radio over Fiber (1)

Many successful mmwave range laboratory demonstrations: European projects MODAL (RACE 1992-95); FRANS (ACTS 1995-99); IPHOBAC (ICT 2006-9), Orange, …, Univ Duisburg, EC contribution 5.7 M€ Example: A mmwave 60 GHz laboratory demonstration with monomode fiber Sophisticated solutions with high performance photonic devices

IPHOBAC

Stoehr 2009

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Radio over Fiber (2) Mmwave laboratory demonstration with monomode fiber

Kato 1994 Renaud 1996 Vilcot, Fendler 1998 A basic device: the 60GHz InP waveguide photodiode. A difficulty: the optical alignment with monomode fiber

U2T price of a 40 GHz photodiode # 2000 €

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Radio over Fiber (3) Mmwave 60 GHz laboratory demonstration with polymer multimode fiber

Lethien, Loyez 2007 Optical commercial off-the-shelf components Large area PIN photodiode Large core diameter polymer optical fiber

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Radio over Fiber (4) Optosat: A FP7 2010-11 project to develop a consumer electronics product (EC support 1.08 M€)

SME: Global Invacom UK

Low cost prototype (<30€)

Off-the-shelf devices

Had to compete with IP TV

Not commercially available

Sat. Rec.

STB#1

STB #3 STB#2

IP media

converter

IP electrical) IP (optical)

DVB-S

(optical)

DVB-S/IP

(optical

inputs)

Commercial Set Top Box including

the optical receiver

STB #4

Opt. TX

Opt. RX

Opt. RX

Opt. RX

Opt. RX

Vilcot, Sion 2010

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Radio over Fiber (5) Nowadays

A lot of commercially available systems (Seeds 2015) - installed worldwide - more than $100M annual sales revenue Companies: VLC Photonics (SP), Zinwave (UK), Microwave Photonic Systems (US), Photonicsystems (US), ……. Main features: - Take advantage from developped optical communication technology - Low cost commercially available devices and components - A few gigahertz maximum frequency range - Extend wireless systems in tunnels, metro lines, ….

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Radio over Fiber (6) From RoF experience

RoF technology moved to commercial level when: - cost of the system is cheap enough to compete with other technologies - developped products fit with a market big enough What about other application areas of microwave-photonics ?

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Optical beam-forming for antennas (1) The principle

The emerging beam of an array antenna

points out perpendicularly to the equiphase

plan.

The use of true time delay allows the system

to be completely insensitive with respect to the

signal frequency.

path difference

equiphase plan

array antenna

beam direction

Phased shift antennas

electronics

True time delays antennas

photonics

Scan angle depends on frequency

Impressive research results

Thales, Hughes, …

Huignard, Dolfi, Chazelas, Formont

1989, 91, 96, 99, …., 2013, ….

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Optical beam-forming for antennas (2) High performance technology to be developped

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- Low noise, high power lasers

- High power, high speed photodiodes

- High speed, low cross-talk optical switching matrixes

- Wide bandwidth optical summation Integrated Circuit

DGA support

Thales architecture

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Optical beam-forming for antennas (3) High power, high speed photodiodes

An example: 20 GHz module industrial prototype with an evanescent coupling

InP UTC-PIN hybrid waveguide photodiode (35 mA, 0.8 A/W)

Waveguide UTC-PIN photodiode, Magnin, Saadsaoud 2007

Backside illuminated UTC photodiode, Chtioui 2006

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Optical beam-forming for antennas (4) High speed, low cross-talk optical switches

First attempt 2X2 optical switching matrixes industrial prototype

InP carrier injection Digital Optical Switch (3 ns, -40 dB)

Zegaoui 2005, Choueib 2008, Rodriguez 2010

Not commercially available

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Optical beam-forming for antennas (5) Wide bandwidth summation Integrated Circuit

First attempt 20 GHz summation IC industrial prototype

Vilcot, Ulliac, 2006,

Saadsaoud 2011, Hivin, 2013

Not commercially available

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From optical beam-forming experience

- Prototypes:

mostly technology fulfills the main requirements

- Some basic bricks not yet commercially available

- From a comparison with RoF, we could say

Defense application so far: market not big enough ?

Dual technology for civilian applications to be introduced

and developped ?

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OFF state

ON state

hν

Principle

LT-GaAs coplanar waveguide :

– High resistivity 107 Ω.cm-1

– Carrier lifetime 1 ps

An emerging technology:

Microwave sampling with nanophotoswitch (1)

Tripon-Canseliet 2003

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– Submicrometer photoconductor gap

– Dielectric optical nanowaveguide

– Signal frequency = 20 GHz

– Effective Number Of Bits = 3, 5*

An emerging technology:

Microwave sampling with nanophotoswitch (2)

DGA support Tripon-Canseliet, Pagies 2012

Tripon-Canseliet* 2015

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An emerging technology:

Microwave sampling with nanophotoswitch (3)

A breakthrough technology

- Move to 1.3 µm and 1.55 µm wavelentgh, exploring:

GaAsNSb materials (ESPCI, Thales, IEMN, NTU/CINTRA S’pore)

2 photons absorption in photonic crystals (Thales, ESPCI, IEMN)

- Strong efforts to demonstrate industrial prototypes including the optical

source (complete device)

It makes sense !

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What to conclude from this microwave-photonics experience of life ? (1) How to make a new µwave-photonic concept moving

from the laboratory to the market ?

Roughly, the steps

1- A proof of concept: A breakthrough technology makes the difference

2- A prototype demonstration

3- Be able to produce at price low enough

4- To fit a market big enough to make an enterprise (start-up) living. The

most difficult level to overcome and hang on

After the proof of concept (laboratory work mostly), the way is still long

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What to conclude from this microwave-photonics experience of life ? (2) Which way for future research ?

My opinion: keep your research going ahead, create, innovate, go further,

exploring new ways for materials, structures, sub-systems and systems

- The proof of concept is number one.

Nothing can be done without this first step

This is our mission !

- We never know: At the beginning, LT-GaAs was not dedicated to A/D

converters

So many other examples long ago and recently ….

- Do your research with energy, motivation, imagination, ….

And reach the top !

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Thanks a lot

- To you, for your attention

- To so many people

From IEMN: the technology and characterization staff, the

Optoelectronic Group staff and PhDs, and others, ….

From Thales: J. Chazelas, D. Dolfi, and others, …..

From DGA: R.M. Sauvage, F. Doukhan, G. Jestin, P. Maigné*, ….

* has left

From fruitful collaborations:

with ESPCI: C. Tripon-Canseliet, …

with CINTRA/NTU Singapore: Yoon Soon Fatt, Beng Kang

Tay, P. Coquet, ….

- As you can see, for me research is a team work !!!