Indirect optically injection-locked oscillator for millimeter-wave communication system

A millimeter-wave optically injection-locked oscillator has been designed a nd fabricated. It represents the first millimeter-wave hybrid transistor os cillator locked to a long-wavelength optical signal. The oscillator could b e used as a photoreceiver in remote base stations in future picocellular co mmunication systems employing fiber-optic backbones; its high "gain" (outpu t relative to input locking signal) and relative flatness in output power m ay make it attractive compared to simple millimeter-wave amplifier configur ations. Measurement results show the output signal exhibits little variatio n (less than 0.7 dB) with input optical power changes of 6 dB. A locking ba ndwidth of 2.6 MHz has also been achieved.