Greatly enhanced electro-optic modulation efficiency in titanium in-diffusion PIN-PMN-PT waveguide

Electro-optic modulators,which convert electrical signals onto the transmission light,are key devices in electro-optic modulating systems.Modulation efficiency is one of the most important parameters of an electro-optic modulator,which directly determines the footprint and power consumption of the device.Generally,modulation efficiency strongly depends on the electro-optic response of the crystal.The Pb(In_(1/2)Nb_(1/2))O_(3)-Pb(Mg_(1/3)Nb_(2/3))O_(3)-PbTiO_(3)(PIN-PMN-PT)single crystal with giant electro-optic coefficient(λ_(c))and high transparency indicates the potential to achieve greatly enhanced modulation efficiency.In this study,a prototype PIN-PMN-PT phase modulator was fabricated based on a titanium(Ti)in-diffusion waveguide,which is reported for the first time.The influences of titanium in-diffusion on the composition and domain structure of the PIN-PMN-PT single crystal were studied by transmission electron microscopy(TEM)and piezoelectric force microscopy(PFM),respectively.Finally,a half-wave voltage(V_(π))of 2.3 V was obtained using a device with 6-mm-long(L)electrodes.Furthermore,the electro-optic modulation efficiency(V_(π)L)was calculated as 1.38 V-cm,which was approximately one order of magnitude lower than that of commercial lithium niobate(LiNbO_(3),LN)phase modulators.Such enhanced modulation efficiency indicates more compact device and lower power consumption,which is of great significance for electro-optic modulation systems used in micro-fiber gyroscope,integrated photonic devices,etc.