Continuously tunable incoherent microwave photonic filter using a tunable Mach Zehnder interferometer as the slicing filter.

A continuously tunable incoherent microwave photonic filter employing a tunable Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) as the slicing filter is studied. By incorporating the optical variable delay line (OVDL), the frequency spacing of the MZI can be tuned continuously, which in turn makes the whole microwave photonic filter continuously tunable in a wide frequency range. The frequency response characteristics are studied and some simulation results are also given to optimize the present microwave photonic filter. Experimental results show the present filter has good frequency response characteristics and tuning linearity. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 49: 2382–2386, 2007; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.22732 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]