Projects in DFG Priority Program “Electronic-Photonic Integrated Systems for Ultrafast Signal Processing” (PACE 403188360, NLFT 403153975): Light is not only good for transporting information, but in some cases can also be used for processing broadband information beyond the capabilities of pure electronics. This is for example the case in so-called microwave photonics, in which high-speed microwave signals are filtered, variably delayed or otherwise processed by mixed electrical and optical circuitry, and which finds its application mostly in RF communications. Here, we aim at mixed electrical and optical signal processing for application in high-speed optical receivers and target in particular the front-end of ultra-broadband, low aperture jitter analog-to-optical converters (DACs) as well as optical pre-  and post-processing for facilitating the compensation of nonlinear impairments in fiber-optical long-haul transmission, in particular in the context of applying the non-linear Fourier transform. Both optical time-interleaving and spectral slicing are investigated as means to offload electronic requirements in high-performance electro-optic transceivers.

Project partners: University of Paderborn, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, University of Hamburg / DESY, University of Kiel.

Detailed information on Electronic-Photonic Integrated Systems for Ultrafast Signal Processing can be found on the Projectwebsite