Radio frequency (RF) switches are essential for implementing routing of RF signals. However, the increasing demand for RF signal frequency and bandwidth is posing a challenge of switching speed to the conventional solutions, i.e., the capability of operating at a sub-nanosecond speed or faster. In addition, signal frequency reconfigurability is also a desirable feature to facilitate new innovations of flexible system functions. Utilizing microwave photonics as an alternative path, we present here a photonic implementation of an RF switch providing not only the capability of switching at a sub-nanosecond speed but also options of frequency doubling of the input RF signals, allowing for flexible output waveforms. The core device is a traveling-wave silicon modulator with a device size of 0.2 mm×1.8 mm and a modulation bandwidth of 10 GHz. Using microwave frequencies, i.e., 15 GHz and 20 GHz, as two simultaneous RF input signals, we experimentally demonstrated their amplitude and frequency switching as well as that of the doubled frequencies, i.e., 30 GHz and 40 GHz, at a switching frequency of 5 GHz. The results of this work point to a solution for creating high-speed RF switches with high compactness and flexibility.

中文翻译：

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使用硅调制器的亚纳秒级频率可重构光子射频开关

射频 (RF) 开关对于实现 RF 信号的路由至关重要。然而，对射频信号频率和带宽不断增长的需求对传统解决方案的切换速度提出了挑战，即以亚纳秒或更快的速度运行的能力。此外，信号频率可重构性也是促进灵活系统功能的新创新的理想特性。利用微波光子学作为替代路径，我们在此展示了射频开关的光子实现，不仅提供以亚纳秒速度切换的能力，还提供输入射频信号倍频的选项，允许灵活的输出波形。核心器件为行波硅调制器，器件尺寸为0.2 mm×1.8 mm，调制带宽为10 GHz。使用微波频率，即 15 GHz 和 20 GHz，作为两个同时的 RF 输入信号，我们通过实验证明了它们的幅度和频率切换以及双倍频率（即 30 GHz 和 40 GHz）在 5吉赫兹。这项工作的结果指向了一种创建具有高度紧凑性和灵活性的高速射频开关的解决方案。