Low-noise and broadband optical frequency comb generation based on an optoelectronic oscillator

A novel scheme to generate broadband high-repetition-rate optical frequency combs and low phase noise microwave signals simultaneously is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. By incorporating an optical frequency comb generator in an optoelectronic oscillator loop, more than 200 lines are generated for a 25 GHz optical frequency comb, and the single-sideband phase noise is as low as −122 dBc/Hz at 10 kHz offset for the 25 GHz microwave signal. 10 and 20 GHz optical frequency combs and microwave signals are also generated. Unlike the microwave frequency synthesizer, the phase noise of the microwave signals generated by this new scheme is frequency independent.