FOCUSED ISSUE FEATURE RF Engineering Meets Optoelectronics Stavros Iezekiel, Maurizio Burla, Jonathan Klamkin, David Marpaung, and José Capmany ©ISTOCKPHOTO.COM/CHAINATP ntegrated microwave photonics (IMWP) is field of IMWP and to describe how it may potentially concerned with applying integrated photonics be applied to improve the performance and capabili- technology to microwave photonic systems. It ties of microwave and millimeter-wave (mmWave) is one of the most active and exciting areas of systems. Just as the microwave monolithic integrated current research and development in micro- circuit (MMIC) has revolutionized active microwave Iwave photonics (MWP), building upon the impres- circuits, IMWP is poised to open up new applica- sive foundations of integrated photonics in various tions for microwave engineering that take advantage systems involving material platforms such as indium of the unique functionalities offered by photonics, phosphide (InP) and silicon nitride (Si3N4). The aim especially with regard to its large bandwidth. of this article is to explain to the wider microwave Working on the assumption that most microwave engineering community the significance of the new engineers may be somewhat unfamiliar with the Stavros Iezekiel (
[email protected]) is with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus. Maurizio Burla (
[email protected]) is with the Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique-Énergie, Matériaux et Télécommunications, Varennes, Quebec, Canada. Jonathan Klamkin (
[email protected]) is with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Boston University, Massachusetts, United States. David Marpaung (
[email protected]) is with the Centre for Ultrahigh Bandwidth Devices for Optical Systems, Institute of Photonics and Optical Science, School of Physics, University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.