Manipulating and processing radio-frequency (RF) signals using integrated photonic devices has recently emerged as a paradigm-shifting technology for future microwave applications. This emerging technique is referred to as integrated microwave photonics (IMWP) which enables the high-frequency processing and unprecedentedly wideband tunability in compact photonic circuits, with significantly enhanced stability and robustness. However, to find widespread applications, the performance of IMWP devices must meet or exceed the achievable performance of conventional electronic counterparts. The work presented in this thesis investigates high-performance IMWP signal processing from two aspects: the optimized IMWP processing schemes and the photonic integration. Firstly, we explore novel schemes to improve the performance of chip-based microwave photonic subsystems, such as RF delay lines and RF filters which are basic building blocks of RF systems. A phase amplification technique is demonstrated to achieve a Si3N4 chip-based RF time delay with a delay tuning speed at gigahertz level. A new scheme to achieve an all-optimized RF photonic notch filter is demonstrated, producing a record-high RF link performance and complete functionalities. To unlock the potential of RF signal processing, we investigate a new filter concept of pairing linear and nonlinear optics for a high-performance RF photonic filter. To reduce the footprint of the novel IMWP filter, the photonic integration of both the ring resonators and Brillouin-active circuits on the same photonic chip is achieved. To eliminate the use of integrated optical circulators for on-chip SBS, on-chip backward inter-modal stimulated Brillouin scattering is predicted and experimentally demonstrated in a Si-Chalcogenide hybrid integrated photonic platform. The study and demonstrations presented in this thesis make the first viable step towards high-performance IMWP signal processing for real-world RF applications
