Photonic microwave frequency switching regulation using P1 nonlinear semiconductor laser dynamics

Synchronous switching networks require precise control of the channel switching time and duration to maintain a predetermined timing relationship among devices and systems within the networks. In photonic microwave frequency switching systems that utilize phase-locked period-one nonlinear semiconductor laser dynamics (P1 dynamics), microwave frequency switching delays are triggered on the rising and falling edges of the control clocks. Although the microwave frequency switching time can be faster than the voltage switching time of the control clocks, a control scheme must be sufficiently flexible to manage both the microwave frequency switching time and frequency-switched microwave duration. In this work, we investigate the control of positive and negative microwave frequency switching delays by using phase-locked P1 dynamics under various input microwave power levels. To the best of our knowledge, we are the first to propose and demonstrate such a new and flexible regulation scheme for microwave frequency switching time and frequency-switched microwave duration. Additionally, the frequency-switched microwave quality deviates minimally in terms of microwave power and has low phase noise across various input microwave power levels.