Tunable microwave photonic filter free from carrier suppression effect with positive and negative coefficients

We present the theoretical analysis and experimental measurements of an all-optical novel configuration to implement a microwave photonic filter by combining a mode-locked fiber laser and a Mach-Zenhder structure in cascade to a 2x1 electro-optic modulator. The proposed structure shows a novel characteristic consisting on the RF filter being free from carrier suppression effect and thus not requiring single sideband modulation. Positive and negative coefficients are obtained inherently in the system and the tunability is achieved by controlling the optical difference path of the Mach-Zenhder structure without modifying the optical multiwavelength source and the dispersive link.