Ultra-Narrow Bandwidth Microwave Photonic Filter Implemented by Single Longitudinal Mode Parity Time Symmetry Brillouin Fiber Laser

Abstract

In this paper, a novel microwave photonic filter (MPF) based on a single longitudinal mode Brillouin laser achieved by parity time (PT) symmetry mode selection is proposed, and its unparalleled ultra-narrow bandwidth as low as to sub-kHz together with simple and agile tuning performance is experimentally verified. The Brillouin fiber laser ring resonator is cascaded with a PT symmetric system to achieve this MPF. Wherein, the Brillouin laser resonator is excited by a 5 km single mode fiber to generate Brillouin gain, and the PT symmetric system is configured with Polarization Beam Splitter (PBS) and polarization controller (PC) to achieve PT symmetry. Thanks to the significant enhancement of the gain difference between the main mode and the edge mode when the polarization state PT symmetry system breaks, a single mode oscillating Brillouin laser is generated. Through the selective amplification of sideband modulated signals by ultra-narrow linewidth Brillouin single mode laser gain, the MPF with ultra-narrow single passband performance is obtained. By simply tuning the central wavelength of the stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) pumped laser to adjust the Brillouin oscillation frequency, the gain position of the Brillouin laser can be shifted, thereby achieving flexible tunability. The experimental results indicate that the MPF proposed in this paper achieves a single pass band narrow to 72 Hz and the side mode rejection ratio of more than 18 dB, with a center frequency tuning range of 0–20 GHz in the testing range of vector network analysis, which means that the MPF possesses ultra high spectral resolution and enormous potential application value in the domain of ultra fine microwave spectrum filtering such as radar imaging and electronic countermeasures.