Photonic & Microwave Transmitters & Receivers

The program associated with this course provides students with an overview of photonic and microwave transmitters and receivers, from the physics of materials to the active component and its packaging. Microwave amplifiers and oscillators will be treated in parallel with optical and laser amplifiers, to highlight the obvious analogies between these two frequency domains. The aim of this course is to provide an understanding of the operation and main characteristics of these active components, both optical and microwave, which are essential in the construction of telecoms systems, sensors, radar, etc.

The objectives of this UE are multiple:

• Fundamentals of semiconductor structure manufacturing, knowledge of the physical operating principles of optoelectronic and microwave components.
• Understand the main applications of optoelectronic and microwave components.
• Understand how optical and microwave amplifiers and oscillators work, and know their main characteristics so you can choose them or use them wisely in more complex systems.

Basic semiconductor physics, S-parameters, propagation in free space and in guided media (especially microwave lines), diffraction and interference.

Recommended prerequisites* :

Basics of electromagnetism.

Continuous control

Optical amplifiers

1. Introduction: why amplify
2. Wave-Matter Interaction

• Wave (Lorentz model) & corpuscular aspects
• Efficient sections
• Homogeneous and inhomogeneous widths

1. Fiber optic amplifiers

• Amplification in active fibers
• 2, 3 or 4-level systems
• Detailed study of a 3-level system :

Gain, population inversion, gain saturation by pump and signal

1. Introduction to solid-state amplifiers

Lasers

1. Introduction & background
2. Continuous laser oscillation

• Fabry-Perot cavity with gain & loss: lasing conditions (amplitude and phase)
• Laser power and gain lock
• Spectral properties of a homogeneous/inhomogeneous gain laser, spatial hole burning
• Frequency attraction

1. Continuous laser dynamics

• Evolution equations
• Laser dynamics classes
• Multi-modal dynamics (Lyapunoff coefficients)

1. Spatial and temporal coherence: definition, measurement and quantitative quantities
2. Operating principle of pulsed lasers :

• Spiking oscillo-amortised lasers
• Triggered lasers(Q-switch)
• Mode-locked lasers

1. Zoology of lasers
2. Laser safety

Materials / Semiconductor lasers 

1. Introduction
2. Semiconductors - structural properties
3. Semiconductors - electronic properties
4. Lasers
5. Semiconductor lasers
6. Electro-optical characterization of semiconductor lasers
7. Semiconductor laser applications

Microwave components 

1. A reminder of semiconductor physics
2. Microwave diodes

• 1. PN diode
• 2. PiN diode
• 3. Gunn diode
• 4. Schottky diode
• 5. Tunnel diode
• 6. Avalanche diode

1. Microwave transistors

• 1. Bipolar transistor (BJT, HBT)
• 2. Field-effect transistors (MESFET, HEMT)

1. Microwave applications

• 1. Receivers
• 2. Transmitters

Microwave amplifiers and oscillators

1. Amplifier

• Transistor-based design
• Transistor stability
• Adaptation and stability
• Earnings
• Amplifier noise
• Wideband amplifier
• Power amplifier

1. Microwave oscillators

• Features
• Low-frequency oscillators
  • Oscillation conditions
  • Stabilization
  • L- and C-based circuits
  • Quartz oscillators
• Microwave oscillators
  • Oscillation conditions
  • Diode oscillators
  • Transistor oscillators
  • Resonant dielectric oscillators
• Variable-frequency oscillators
• High-power amplifiers and oscillators

Visible and IR optical sensors 

1. Photometry
2. Visible area
3. Gain detectors
4. IR spectral range: Background on IR: Planck's law, spectral emittance, atmospheric transmission window, thermal IR SWIR, MWIR, LWIR, VLWIR, multispectrality, choice of spectral bands, thermal contrast criteria for imaging, order of magnitude. IR photodetectors versus thermodetectors.
5. Figures of merit for IR detectors 
6. Manufacturing and characterizing an IR PD
7. IR cameras

Noise

1. The fundamental nature of noise
2. Shot Noise (optical and electronic) + other electronic noise
3. Photodetection and Noise
4. Noise in oscillators
5. Noise in amplifiers
6. Noise in optoelectronic systems

CM: 84h