Photonic microwave filter using a broadband source sliced by a birefringent optical fiber-based interferometer

An experimental and theoretical demonstration of a non-periodic photonic microwave filter is reported. The finite impulse response (FIR) is realized in the optical domain by slicing an optical broadband source with an interferometric scheme based on a birefringent optical fiber. This simple optical operator permits an easy adjustment of the center frequency of the filter with the length of this fiber and opens the potentiality of frequency tunability.