Investigations and improvements in microwave opto-electronic variable delay lines

A particular class of optically generated microwave delay lines is dealt with namely those that apply path length dispersions. Detailed analysis of the design, using an acousto-optic device for spatial imaging is given. Furthermore two new designs, decomposing the signal into sub-bands: a.) via a pixelled mirror and b.) using an electrical filter bank, are discussed. Detailed analysis of these structures as well as limitations of applicability are given. Numerical experiments validate the theoretical results.