Large-scale photonic chip based pulse interleaver for low-noise microwave generation

Optically generated microwaves exhibit unprecedented low noise, benefiting applications such as communications, radar, instrumentation, and metrology. To date, the purest microwave signals are produced using optical frequency division with femtosecond mode-locked lasers. However, their typical repetition rates of hundreds of MHz require multiplication methods to reach the microwave domain. Here, we introduce a miniaturized photonic integrated circuit-based interleaver, achieving a 64-fold multiplication of the repetition rate from 216 MHz to 14 GHz in Ku-Band. With the interleaver, the generated microwave power was improved by 35 dB, with a phase noise floor reduced by more than 10 folds by alleviating photodetector saturation. Based on a low-loss and high-density Si₃N₄ waveguides, six cascaded stages of Mach-Zehnder interferometers with optical delay lines up to 33 centimeters long are fully integrated into a compact chip. Our result can significantly reduce the cost and footprint of mode-locked-laser-based microwave generation, enabling field deployment in aerospace and communication applications.