Switchable microwave photonic filter based on a dual-parallel Mach-Zehnder modulator.

We present a switchable and tunable microwave photonic filter (MPF) based on a dual-parallel Mach-Zehnder modulator (DPMZM) and a tunable optical bandpass filter (TOBPF). The MPF is switchable between low-pass and bandpass responses by simply tuning the bias voltage of the DPMZM. In addition, the MPF is widely tunable in terms of bandwidth and center frequency by adjusting the TOBPF.