A dual-loop optoelectronic oscillator (OEO) based on stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) is experimentally demonstrated. Two lasers are utilized to realize the tunability of the OEO. One acts as the signal laser, the other is employed as the pump laser. By directly tuning the wavelength of the pump laser, a widely tunable range from dc to 60 GHz for the RF signal generation can be obtained. To the best of our knowledge, this is the widest fundamental frequency tunable range which has ever been achieved by an OEO. With dual-loop fiber lengths of 2 and 4 km, the single sideband (SSB) phase noise is measured to be -100 dBc/Hz at 10 kHz offset when the oscillation frequency is chosen as 5, 10, or 20 GHz. The side-mode suppression ratio (SMSR) is 35 dB when the oscillation frequency is 10 GHz. The stability of both frequency and power of the proposed OEO is improved with the dual-loop configuration when compared with the singleloop one. The Allan variances of the frequency fluctuation at 1-s average are 1.2 × 10 ^-7 and 4.9 × 10 ^-11 for the single-loop and dual-loop configurations, respectively. Furthermore, a phase noise model based on control theory to evaluate the SSB phase noise performance of the dual-loop OEO based on SBS is detailed for the first time. The experimental phase noise results agree well with the proposed phase noise model at an offset frequency range from 100 Hz to 100 MHz. Among different phase noise tests, the amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) noise induced by SBS is shown theoretically and experimentally to be the dominant source for the phase noise beyond 100-kHz frequency offset in the proposed OEO.

A widely tunable optoelectronic oscillator (OEO) based on a broadband phase modulator and a tunable optical bandpass filter is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. A tunable range from 4.74 to 38.38 GHz is realized by directly tuning the bandwidth of the optical bandpass filter. To the best of our knowledge, this is the widest fundamental frequency tunable range ever achieved by an OEO. The phase noise performance of the generated signal is also investigated. The single-sideband phase noise is below $-120\mathrm{dBc}/\mathrm{Hz}$ at an offset of 10 KHz within the whole tunable range.

Phase noise or frequency noise is a key metric to evaluate the short-term stability of a laser. This property is of great interest for the applications but delicate to characterize, especially for narrow linewidth lasers. In this Letter, we demonstrate a digital cross-correlation scheme to characterize the absolute phase noise of sub-hertz linewidth lasers. Three 1542 nm ultra-stable lasers are used in this approach. For each measurement, two lasers act as references to characterize a third one. Phase noise power spectral density from 0.5 Hz to 0.8 MHz Fourier frequencies can be derived for each laser by a mere change in the configuration of the lasers. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time showing the phase noise of sub-hertz linewidth lasers with no reference limitation. We also present an analysis of the laser phase noise performance.

Frequency-modulated continuous wave (FMCW) light detection and ranging (lidar) is a promising solution for three-dimensional (3D) imaging and autonomous driving. This technique maps range and velocity measurement to frequency counting via coherent detection. Compared with single-channel FMCW lidar, multi-channel FMCW lidar can greatly improve the measurement rate. A chip-scale soliton micro-comb is currently used in FMCW lidar to enable multi-channel parallel ranging and significantly increase the measurement rate. However, its range resolution is limited due to the soliton comb having only a few-GHz frequency sweep bandwidth. To overcome this limitation, we propose using a cascaded modulator electro-optic (EO) frequency comb for massively parallel FMCW lidar. We demonstrate a 31-channel FMCW lidar with a bulk EO frequency comb and a 19-channel FMCW lidar using an integrated thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN) EO frequency comb. Both systems have a sweep bandwidth of up to 15 GHz for each channel, corresponding to a 1-cm range resolution. We also analyze the limiting factors of the sweep bandwidth in 3D imaging and perform 3D imaging for a specific target. The measurement rate achieved is over 12 megapixels per second, which verifies its feasibility for massively parallel ranging. Our approach has the potential to greatly benefit 3D imaging in fields where high range resolution is required, such as in criminal investigation and precision machining.