Photonic generation of ultrawideband (UWB) monocycle and doublet pulses is experimentally demonstrated using a cascaded electroabsorption modulator (EAM) and semiconductor optical amplifier by exploiting a combination of cross-absorption modulation and cross-gain modulation. The polarities and shapes of UWB monocycle and doublet pulses can be simply controlled using an optical time-delay controller and the reverse voltage applied to the EAM. The corresponding measured rf spectra meet the UWB criteria.
