A High Sensitivity Photonic Frequency Discriminator for Low Phase Noise Tunable Micro/mm Wave Synthesis

A novel high sensitivity photonic frequency discriminator is implemented for a low phase noise tunable micro/mm wave synthesizer. In a proof-of-concept demonstration, a low phase noise tunable opto-electronic oscillator (6–18 GHz) and a low phase noise tunable heterodyne beat from two independent cw lasers (10–30 GHz) are demonstrated via locking to the photonic frequency discriminator.