Photonic Microwave Amplification Using Optically Injected Semiconductor Lasers at Stable Locking Dynamics

A photonic microwave amplification scheme based on stable locking dynamics of semiconductor lasers subject to external optical injection is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. By selectively amplifying the optical modulation sidebands injected near the lower relaxation resonance sideband of the stable locking dynamics, the modulation depth will increase, and thus, microwave power amplification can be achieved. The proposed scheme provides a high microwave power gain over a frequency range of several gigahertz.