Optoelectronic Oscillator (OEO)

Cross-cuts: Photonic Systems
last updated 2026-06-01
Optical Frequency CombOptical Frequency C…Optical Frequency Division (OFD)Optical Frequency D…Optoelect…

A microwave-photonic oscillator that produces ultra-low-phase-noise RF/mmWave signals by closing an optoelectronic feedback loop around a high-quality-factor optical energy-storage element — a long low-loss optical fibre or a high-Q whispering-gallery-mode (WGM) microresonator. Invented by Yao & Maleki (1994). The high optical Q yields exceptional spectral purity.

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