Dissipative solitons relying on the double balance between nonlinear and linear effects as well as cavity loss and gain have attracted increasing attention in recent years, since they give rise to novel operating states of various dissipative nonlinear systems. An optoelectronic oscillator (OEO) is a dissipative nonlinear microwave photonic system with a high quality factor that has been widely investigated for generating ultra-low noise single-frequency microwave signals. Here, we report a novel operating state of an OEO related to dissipative solitons, i.e., spontaneous frequency hopping related to the formation of dissipative microwave photonic solitons. In this operating state, dissipative microwave photonic solitons occur due to the double balance between nonlinear gain saturation and linear filtering as well as cavity loss and gain in the OEO cavity, creating spontaneous frequency-hopping microwave signals. The generation of wideband tunable frequency-hopping microwave signals with a fast frequency-hopping speed up to tens of nanoseconds is observed in the experiment, together with the corresponding soliton sequences. This work reveals a novel mechanism between the interaction of nonlinear and linear effects in an OEO cavity, extends the suitability and potential applications of solitons, and paves the way for a new class of soliton microwave photonic systems for the generation, processing, and control of microwave and RF signals.

中文翻译：

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自发跳频光电振荡器中的耗散微波光子孤子

近年来，依靠非线性和线性效应以及腔损耗和增益之间的双重平衡的耗散孤子引起了越来越多的关注，因为它们引起了各种耗散非线性系统的新工作状态。光电振荡器 (OEO) 是一种具有高品质因数的耗散非线性微波光子系统，已被广泛研究用于产生超低噪声单频微波信号。在这里，我们报告了一种与耗散孤子相关的 OEO 的新工作状态，即与耗散微波光子孤子的形成相关的自发跳频。在这种运行状态下，由于非线性增益饱和和线性滤波以及OEO腔中的腔损耗和增益之间的双重平衡，会发生耗散微波光子孤子，从而产生自发的跳频微波信号。实验中观察到了宽带可调谐跳频微波信号的产生，其跳频速度高达几十纳秒，并产生了相应的孤子序列。这项工作揭示了 OEO 腔中非线性和线性效应相互作用之间的新机制，扩展了孤子的适用性和潜在应用，并为新型孤子微波光子系统的产生、处理和控制铺平了道路。微波和射频信号。实验中观察到了宽带可调谐跳频微波信号的产生，其跳频速度高达几十纳秒，并产生了相应的孤子序列。这项工作揭示了 OEO 腔中非线性和线性效应相互作用之间的新机制，扩展了孤子的适用性和潜在应用，并为新型孤子微波光子系统的产生、处理和控制铺平了道路。微波和射频信号。实验中观察到了宽带可调谐跳频微波信号的产生，其跳频速度高达几十纳秒，并产生了相应的孤子序列。这项工作揭示了 OEO 腔中非线性和线性效应相互作用之间的新机制，扩展了孤子的适用性和潜在应用，并为新型孤子微波光子系统的产生、处理和控制铺平了道路。微波和射频信号。