Microwave photonics

Microwave photonics, an interdisciplinary field that combines microwave engineering and photonic technology for the generation, transmission, processing, and control of microwave signals, to take advantage of the broad bandwidth, high frequency, and low loss offered by modern photonics, has been intensively researched for the last few decades, and numerous solutions have been proposed and demonstrated. In this article, an overview about microwave photonics is provided which covers the basic concepts of microwave photonics, photonic-assisted microwave signal generation, photonic-assisted microwave signal processing, and true time delay beamforming. The implementation of microwave photonic systems based on photonic integrated circuits is also reviewed, including the design, fabrication, and material platforms, application-specific photonic integrated circuits for microwave photonics, and programmable integrated microwave photonics. The challenges and future applications of microwave photonics are also discussed.