Thin film lithium niobate electro-optic modulator with terahertz operating bandwidth.

Title Thin film lithium niobate electro-optic modulator with terahertz operating bandwidth.
Authors A.J. Mercante; S. Shi; P. Yao; L. Xie; R.M. Weikle; D.W. Prather
Journal Opt Express
DOI 10.1364/OE.26.014810
Abstract

We present a thin film crystal ion sliced (CIS) LiNbO phase modulator that demonstrates an unprecedented measured electro-optic (EO) response up to 500 GHz. Shallow rib waveguides are utilized for guiding a single transverse electric (TE) optical mode, and Au coplanar waveguides (CPWs) support the modulating radio frequency (RF) mode. Precise index matching between the co-propagating RF and optical modes is responsible for the device's broadband response, which is estimated to extend even beyond 500 GHz. Matching the velocities of these co-propagating RF and optical modes is realized by cladding the modulator's interaction region in a thin UV15 polymer layer, which increases the RF modal index. The fabricated modulator possesses a tightly confined optical mode, which lends itself to a strong interaction between the modulating RF field and the guided optical carrier; resulting in a measured DC half-wave voltage of 3.8 V·cm. The design, fabrication, and characterization of our broadband modulator is presented in this work.

Citation A.J. Mercante; S. Shi; P. Yao; L. Xie; R.M. Weikle; D.W. Prather.Thin film lithium niobate electro-optic modulator with terahertz operating bandwidth.. Opt Express. 2018;26(11):1481014816. doi:10.1364/OE.26.014810

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