The article introduces a novel integrated photonic millimeter-wave (mmW) receiver utilizing a cavity electro-optic transducer made from lithium tantalate (LiTaO3) on a photonic integrated circuit. This receiver operates at room temperature and provides a significant improvement in performance over traditional electronic low-noise amplifiers (LNAs). The system demonstrates a noise temperature of 250 K at 59.33 GHz, matching the best LNAs and surpassing them in terms of resilience to electromagnetic interference (EMI) and strong inputs.
The key innovation lies in integrating photonics for millimeter-wave detection, allowing for quantum-limited sensitivity at room temperature. The receiver uses electro-optic materials to convert RF signals into optical phase shifts, achieving high photon-number conversion efficiency (2.5%). The work also reports the first direct measurement of thermal noise in such systems, revealing that the receiver's noise performance is fundamentally limited by thermal photon occupation in the cavity.
This research positions integrated photonic receivers as viable alternatives to conventional electronic amplifiers, especially for applications in high-frequency regimes such as 5G/6G, radar, and space communication. Furthermore, the cavity electro-optic system offers enhanced scalability for analog processing in the optical domain, with potential applications in broader fields like quantum systems and electromagnetic sensing .
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