A photonic beamforming network based on phase shifters for microwave wide-band applications

In this paper, the performance of a photonic beamforming network based on phase shift for microwave applications is analysed. The proposed beamforming network elements are realised as Si-photonic integrated circuits, exhibiting large phase shift (> 360°) and limited amplitude fluctuations (~ 3 dB). Extremely low signal distortion is demonstrated, by emulating the transmission of a 1-GHz chirped signal by a 4-element phased array antenna operating beam steering, driven by the proposed beamforming network. © 2019 IEEE