Oewaves

Two platform technologies form the basis of OEwaves’ products: the optical Whispering Gallery Mode (WGM) micro-resonator and the Opto-Electronic Oscillator (OEO).

Whispering Gallery Mode (WGM) Micro-Resonator

The crystalline optical WGM micro-resonator technology pioneered at OEwaves, uses optically transparent crystalline material combined with unique polishing techniques. WGM resonators are extremely high quality factor (Q) axially symmetric dielectric structures, ranging in size from tens of microns to a few mm, which can trap light for long periods of time. Resonators made with electro-optic crystals, such as lithium niobate, lead to extremely narrow band (1 MHz) optical domain microwave and mm-wave filters, tunable over 40 GHz centered at any frequency in the microwave or mm-wave range of interest. These resonators can also be used as an ultra-high efficiency optical modulator as well as a critical element in more complex microwave oscillators and photonic receiver front ends for special applications in communications and radar. The combination of high Q WGM resonators, together with semiconductor lasers, has resulted in extremely narrow linewidth, highly stable lasers in small form factors. These lasers exhibit narrow linewidth smaller than 200 Hz and display frequency stability better than 10^-9 at 1 s. They can be produced at any wavelength for which a semiconductor laser diode is available.

Opto-Electronic Oscillator (OEO)

OEwaves’ patented opto-electronic oscillator (OEO) is based on an approach that is fundamentally distinct from conventional electronic oscillators. These innovative oscillators produce highly spectrally pure microwave and mm-wave signals using an opto-electronic feedback loop. The versatile scheme allows utilization of optical components for low loss and small size in place of conventional, more lossy and bulky microwave and mm-wave components. OEO’s are also inherently less sensitive to vibration and acceleration, and provide the same low spectral purity at all microwave, mm-wave, and higher frequencies. OEwaves has demonstrated a highly advanced OEO that produces ultra-low phase noise of -163 dBc/Hz at 10 kHz offset for a 10 GHz carrier, a performance unmatched by any other oscillator. Variations of our OEO architecture achieving near -145 dBc/Hz at 10 kHz offset are available in compact VME sized packages (compact OEO) with fixed or tunable frequency within X-Band (tunable OEO). A chip-scale version of our OEO with an architecture based on the use of tiny optical whispering gallery mode micro-resonators produces unmatched spectral purity at X, Ku, Ka, and W-band. Known as the micro-OEO, this OEO comes in a package the size of a dime (US 10 cent coin). Additionally, OEwaves has devised tunable OEOs based on the microresonator technology, capable of producing 20 GHz of tunable frequency centered at Ku, Ka, or W-bands.

Phase Noise Test Measurement

Accompanying the ultra-high performance of our OEO’s, OEwaves have productized a fast and fully automated phase noise test system called the PHENOM. This system utilizes microwave photonics techniques to measure the phase noise of oscillators without the need of a high performance reference oscillator or down-converter. Based on the homodyne technique with cross-correlation capability, the PHENOM system measures the phase noise of an oscillator at any operating frequency in the 1 to 60 GHz range rapidly and accurately.