Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain
the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in
Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles
and JavaScript.
Microwave photonics is the practical application of electromagnetic waves with a wavelength between one millimetre and one meter. Microwaves are important for communications, and systems for detecting microwaves are crucial for astronomy. The term also includes high-frequency electronic systems.
The authors propose a nonlinear spoof plasmonic waveguide to realize coherent perfect absorption and parametric amplification at the same frequency, which opens a new route to actively modulate the electromagnetic waves with giant amplification-to-absorption contrast.
A miniaturized optical frequency division system that could transfer the generation of microwaves, with superior spectral purity, to a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor-compatible integrated photonic platform is demonstrated showing potential for large-volume, low-cost manufacturing for many applications.
The authors report implementing and demonstrating a first general-purpose integrated photonic programmable processor capable of performing all the functionalities required in RF photonic systems, such as those needed in 5/6 G communications networks.
The centrally located reciprocal point can achieve single-mode transmission and switch off the photonic molecule. The deviated reciprocal point can switch on the photonic molecule and dynamically control the splitting.
An inexpensive and compact short-range radar, which is capable of beam steering and operates at 330–500 GHz, can be used to detect heartbeat-induced chest motions through a person’s clothes.
Modulation of light by external waves is an essential function in any photonics-based system. Using an integrated plasmonic approach, the speed of modulation of 1.55-μm waves has now been extended to the ‘low’ THz band.