Optical Microresonators used for Stabilisation and Miniaturisation of High Spectral Purity Microwave Sources for Space Applications

International audienceThe use of optical resonators for microwave oscillator stabilization is discussed in this paper. This recently proposed approach could be a disruptive technology, in a near future, giving access to high performance in a small volume thanks to the extremely high optical Q factor and to the small dimensions of the optical resonator. Many topologies can be chosen for the electrical-optical oscillator (OEO), and many different approaches can be investigated for the resonator itself, and the coupling techniques. This paper gives an overview of all these techniques, together with some preliminary results on a dedicated resonator measurement bench