Ultra-high-linearity integrated lithium niobate electro-optic modulators

Integrated lithium niobate(LN)photonics is a promising platform for future chip-scale microwave photonics systems owing to its unique electro-optic properties,low optical loss,and excellent scalability.A key enabler for such systems is a highly linear electro-optic modulator that could faithfully convert analog electrical signals into optical signals.In this work,we demonstrate a monolithic integrated LN modulator with an ultra-high spurious-free dynamic range(SFDR)of 120.04 dB·Hz^(4/5)at 1 GHz,using a ring-assisted Mach–Zehnder interferometer configuration.The excellent synergy between the intrinsically linear electro-optic response of LN and an optimized linearization strategy allows us to fully suppress the cubic terms of third-order intermodulation distortions(IMD3)without active feedback controls,leading to∼20 dB improvement over previous results in the thin-film LN platform.Our ultra-high-linearity LN modulators could become a core building block for future large-scale functional microwave photonic integrated circuits by further integration with other high-performance components like low-loss delay lines,tunable filters,and phase shifters available on the LN platform.

High-Q lithium niobate microring resonators using lift-off metallic masks [Invited]

High-Q lithium niobate(LN) optical micro-resonators are an excellent platform for future applications in optical communications, nonlinear optics, and quantum optics. To date, high-Q factors are typically achieved in LN using either dielectric masks or femtosecond laser ablation, while the more standard and commonly available lift-off metallic masks are often believed to lead to rough sidewalls and lowered Q factors. Here, we show that LN microring resonators with strong light confinement and intrinsic Q factors over 1 million can be fabricated using optimized lift-off metallic masks and dry etching processes, corresponding to a waveguide propagation loss of ~0.3 d B=cm. The entire process is fully compatible with wafer-scale production and could be transferred to other photonic materials.