Widely tunable optoelectronic oscillator based on selective parity-time-symmetry breaking

Parity-time (PT) symmetry breaking provides an excellent tool for single-mode oscillation by exploiting the interplay between gain and loss. Previously, the oscillation mode is fixed because the breaking of PT symmetry cannot be manipulated precisely. In this paper, we propose and experimentally demonstrate a selective PT-symmetry optoelectronic oscillator (OEO), which shows wideband tunability and ultra-high side mode suppression ratio (SMSR). The tunability of the proposed OEO is attributed to selection of different modes to break PT symmetry by using a widely tunable microwave photonic filter (MPF). The large roll-off of the MPF greatly enhances the gain difference between the selected mode and competing modes. Consequently, both the output power and the SMSR of the OEO are increased. In the experiment, the oscillation frequency can be tuned over 40 GHz. The output power of the selected mode is enhanced by 12.91 dB, and the maximal SMSR is as high as 71.41 dB. Further, the measured phase noise of the OEO at 17.74 GHz is -129 dBc/Hz at the 10 kHz offset frequency. Exploration of the selective PT-symmetry breaking provides the possibility of developing classes of widely tunable OEOs with ultra-high SMSR and excellent phase noise performance.