Microcomb-based Transversal Microwave Photonic Applications

Kerr optical frequency combs, or "microcombs", originated from the optical parametric oscillation in monolithic micro-ring resonators (MRRs), offer distinct advantages over traditional multi-wavelength sources for RF applications, such as the potential to provide a much higher number of wavelengths, an ultra-large FSR, as well as greatly reduced footprint and complexity. In particular, for RF transversal functions, the number of wavelengths dictates the available channel number of parallel time delays, and thus with microcombs, the performance of RF transversal systems can be enhanced in terms of the spectral resolution and quality factor, respectively.