RadiOptics - EXIST Business Start-up Grant: RadiOptics

The goal of the RadiOptics project is to commercialize the next generation of microwave signal generators using a mode-locked laser (MLL). MLLs can generate a low-noise optical reference clock which have better precision in time unit measurement by orders of magnitude. The optical pulses of MLLs, however, cannot simply be used in a conventional phase-locked loop (PLL) to generate a microwave signal. It is due to the fact that the MLLs output is in the optical domain while the electronic phase detectors operate in the electrical domain. The phase detector of this type of opto-electronic PLL (OEPLL) has to operate in a mixed-electro-optical domain, the so-called balanced optical microwave phase detector (BOMPD). By using this type of optoelectronic PLL, phase noise can be improved by orders of magnitude.