Precise detection and monitoring of the frequency spectrum of microwave signals are essential to myriad scientific and technological disciplines, including both civil and defense areas, such as telecommunications, radar, biomedical instrumentation, radio astronomy, etc. Historically, microwave engineering has provided solutions for these tasks. However, current radio-frequency (RF) technologies suffer from inherent shortcomings that limit their capability to provide agile (e.g., real-time) measurements over a large operation bandwidth in energy-efficient and compact (e.g., integrated) formats. Overcoming these limitations is key to fulfilling pressing performance requirements in the above-mentioned application fields, as well as for compatibility with platforms that require chip-scale integration and/or low weight and dimensions, such as satellites and drones. Integrated microwave photonics is an emerging field that leverages the advantages of optical technologies for realization of microwave operations with high bandwidth, low power consumption, and increased agility and flexibility in on-chip platforms, offering an alternative path for integration of advanced RF processing and analysis methods in mature semiconductor technologies. This mini review surveys some of the latest advances in microwave spectral measurement and monitoring techniques realized through photonic approaches, with a special focus on methods suitable for on-chip integration.

中文翻译：

---

走向片上光子辅助射频频谱测量和监视

精确检测和监视微波信号的频谱对于无数的科学和技术学科都是必不可少的，包括电信，雷达，生物医学仪器，射电天文学等民用和国防领域。从历史上看，微波工程为这些领域提供了解决方案任务。然而，当前的射频（RF）技术遭受固有的缺陷，这些缺陷限制了它们以高能效和紧凑（例如集成）格式在较大的操作带宽上提供敏捷（例如实时）测量的能力。克服这些限制是满足上述应用领域迫切的性能要求以及与需要芯片级集成和/或低重量和小尺寸的平台兼容的关键，例如卫星和无人机。集成微波光子学是一个新兴领域，其利用光学技术的优势来实现高带宽，低功耗以及片上平台中增加的敏捷性和灵活性的微波操作，为集成高级射频处理和分析提供了另一种途径成熟半导体技术中的方法。这篇迷你评论调查了通过光子学方法实现的微波频谱测量和监视技术的一些最新进展，特别关注了适合于片上集成的方法。以及片上平台的更高敏捷性和灵活性，为在成熟的半导体技术中集成先进的RF处理和分析方法提供了另一种途径。这篇迷你评论调查了通过光子学方法实现的微波频谱测量和监视技术的一些最新进展，特别关注了适合于片上集成的方法。以及片上平台的更高敏捷性和灵活性，为在成熟的半导体技术中集成先进的RF处理和分析方法提供了另一种途径。这篇迷你评论调查了通过光子学方法实现的微波频谱测量和监视技术的一些最新进展，特别关注了适合于片上集成的方法。