Broadband Millimeter-Wave Frequency Mixer Based on Thin-Film Lithium Niobate Photonics

作者：Xiangzhi Xie, Hanke Feng, Yuansheng Tao, Yiwen Zhang, Yikun Chen, Ke Zhang, Zhaoxi Chen, Cheng Wang · 发表于：Electromagnetic Science · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.23919/emsci.2024.0046 · 被引用次数：11 · 研究领域：Photonic and Optical Devices、Advanced Photonic Communication Systems、Advanced Fiber Laser Technologies

Frequency mixers are fundamental components in modern wireless communication and radar systems, responsible for up- and down-conversion of target radio-frequency (RF) signals. Recently, photonic-assisted RF mixers have shown unique advantages over traditional electronic counterparts, including broad operational bandwidth, flat frequency response, and immunity to electromagnetic interference. However, current integrated photonic mixers face significant challenges in achieving efficient conversion at high frequencies, especially in millimeter-wave bands, due to the limitations of existing electro-optic (EO) modulators. Additionally, high-frequency local oscillators (LOs) in the millimeter-wave range are often difficult to obtain and expensive, leading to unsatis-factory cost and restricted operational bandwidth in practice. In this paper, we harness the exceptional EO property and scalability of thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN) photonic platform to implement a high-performance harmonic-reconfigurable millimeter-wave mixer. The TFLN photonic circuit integrates a broadband EO modulator that allows for extensive frequency coverage, and an EO frequency comb source that significantly reduces the required carrier frequency of the LO. We experimentally demonstrate fully re-configurable frequency down-conversion across a broad operational bandwidth ranging from 20 GHz to 67 GHz, with a large intermediate frequency of 20 GHz, as well as up-conversion to frequencies up to 110 GHz. Our in...