Microwave photonic components and subsystems can replace or complement their electronic counterparts with a net gain in functionality, bandwidth, size, mass, complexity, and cost, facilitating the innovative implementation of radio frequency (RF) systems due to broad bandwidth, low loss, light weight, flat frequency response, favorable isolation, and immunity to electromagnetic interference (EMI) provided by photonic technologies. Much attention has been recently paid to this area, which results in impressive progresses. Hence, we designed a focus issue intended to introduce the recent advancements in this field, especially the works by some distinguished research groups.

This focus issue includes thirteen invited papers, review papers, and contributed papers from China, Canada, and the USA. We have classified the papers into four topics: high-speed optoelectronic devices, integrated microwave photonics, microwave photonic signal generation and distribution, and microwave photonic processing, sensing, and measurements. It is hoped that this issue will bring the research community’s attention to some of the latest developments in the area.

We thank the Executive Editor-in-Chief, Prof. Changhe Zhou, for inviting us to serve as the guest editors of this focus issue, and Ms. Yanfang Hu for her invaluable help in ensuring the timely production of this focus issue.