Microwave photonic filter with a tunable nonperiodic multiple passband frequency response

A microwave photonic filter that can realize a multiple nonperiodic passband frequency response is presented. It is based on stimulated Brillouin scattering in an optical fiber. The novelty of the filter is that, it has multiple passbands, which can be widely and independently tuned. The filter also has a very wide bandwidth, only limited by the system component bandwidths, as the frequency response is not periodic. Experimental results are presented demonstrating a bandpass filter with two or three widely tunable passbands. Investigations on the effects of adding or removing one passband and tuning one passband frequency to the other passbands are also presented. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 57:1089-1092, 2015 © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.