Spectral hole burning for wideband, high-resolution radio-frequency spectrum analysis

We present experimental results for what is to our knowledge the first spectral-hole-burning based rf spectrum analyzer to cover 10 GHz of rf analysis bandwidth. The rf signal of interest is modulated onto an optical carrier, and the resultant optical sidebands are burned into the inhomogeneously broadened absorption band of a Tm3+:YAG crystal. At the same time a second, frequency-swept laser reads out the absorption profile, which is a double-sideband replica of the rf spectrum, and thus the rf spectrum can be deduced after spectral calibration of the nonlinear readout chirp. This initial demonstration shows spectral analysis covering 10 GHz of bandwidth with >5500 spectral channels and provides 43 dB of dynamic range.