Photonic phase shifter with full tunable range and multi-band frequency-conversion feature based on a PDM-DPMZM

In this paper, a novel photonic phase shifter with − 180° to 180° phase-tunable range and multi-band frequency-conversion feature is proposed. The main device is a single polarization division multiplexing dual-parallel Mach–Zehnder modulator (PDM-DPMZM). The PDM-DPMZM is employed to generate an optical frequency comb (OFC) and a carrier-suppressed single sideband (CS-SSB) in two mutually orthogonal polarizations. Simultaneously, an electrical phase shifter is adopted to control the initial phase of the CS-SSB. The simulation results show, a RF signal with the frequency of 4.3 GHz (C-band) can be down-converted to 1.4 GHz (L-band). Meanwhile, it can also be up-converted to 5.7 GHz (C-band), 10 GHz (LO signal), 14.3 GHz (Ku-band) and 18.6 GHz (K-band) with their phases continuously tuned from − 180° to 180°. Furthermore, the proposed structure features flat power response, frequency-independent operation, simple configuration, easy phase tuning, better ability to cope with DC drift and wide operation bandwidth. The unwanted signal suppression ratio (USSR) and the spurious free dynamic range (SFDR) of the phase shifter are also studied.