A Liénard optoelectronic oscillator with time-delayed feedback

Optoelectronic oscillators (OEO) combine electronic and photonic components to generate spectrally pure microwave signals in both optical and electrical domains. Since the first OEO was reported, several low-cost configurations have been proposed, Here we present a novel OEO configuration based on the integration of a resonant tunneling diode (RTD) photo-detector oscillator and a laser diode. We also show the OEO dynamics is well described as a Lienard oscillator. RTD-based devices work as voltage controlled oscillators taking advantage of RTD negative differential resistance (NDR) current-voltage (I-V) curve. The NDR extends over a wide bandwidth providing gain to the circuit allowing the implementation of compact high speed OEOs with improved performance and useful for optical communication and interconnection applications.