Waveguide electro-optic modulators based on self-assembled material systems

Fabrication and characterization of electro-optic modulators based on the novel organic electro-optic materials composed of self-assembled superlattices (SAS) were presented, both wet-dipping self-assembly and vapor phase deposition approaches were discussed. Prototype waveguide electro-optic modulators were fabricated using SAS films integrated with low-loss polymeric materials functioning as partial guiding and cladding layers.Promising electro-optic thin film materials including DTPT and PEPCOOH grown from the vapor phase were used for fabrication and test of electro-optic prototype modulators. Finally,the EO coefficient of tens of pm/V was obtained,which can sufficiently support high-speed and small size EO modulators.

Ridge Waveguide Electro-Optic Polymer Modulator with a New Kind of Corona Poled Crosslinkable Polyurethane

A polymer electro optic modulator has been fabricated with the functional layer acting as a kind of corona poled crosslinkable polyurethane. The three optical layers, namely waveguide, photolithography and oxygen are fabricated by spin coating. With the Reactive Ion Etching method, the ridge of the waveguide is constructed. With light at 1 31μm being fiber coupled to waveguide, the mode and the modulation properties of these devices are demonstrated in a micron control system.

Waveguide-integrated optical modulators with two-dimensional materials

Waveguide-integrated optical modulators are indispensable for on-chip optical interconnects and optical computing.To cope with the ever-increasing amount of data being generated and consumed,ultrafast waveguide-integrated optical modulators with low energy consumption are highly demanded.In recent years,two-dimensional(2D)materials have attracted a lot of attention and have provided tremendous opportunities for the development of high-performance waveguide-integrated optical modulators because of their extraordinary optoelectronic properties and versatile compatibility.This paper reviews the state-of-the-art waveguide-integrated optical modulators with 2D materials,providing researchers with the developing trends in the field and allowing them to identify existing challenges and promising potential solutions.First,the concept and fundamental mechanisms of optical modulation with 2D materials are summarized.Second,a review of waveguide-integrated optical modulators employing electro-optic,all-optic,and thermo-optic effects is provided.Finally,the challenges and perspectives of waveguide-integrated modulators with 2D materials are discussed.

Modulation Depth Based on Frequency-shift Characteristic of LiNbO3 Waveguide Electro-optic Intensity Modulator

The modulation depth, defined according to practical modulation results, which changes with the microwave power and its frequency, is significant for systems utilizing the frequency-shift characteristic of the LiNbO3 waveguide Electro-Optic Intensity Modulator （EOIM）. By analyzing the impedance mismatch between the microwave source and the EOIM, the effective voltage applied to the RF port of the EOIM is deprived from the microwave power and its frequency. Associating with analyses of the phase velocity mismatch between the microwave and the optical wave, the theoretical modulation depth has been obtained, which is verified by experimental results. We provide a method to choose the appropriate modulation depth to optimize the desired sideband through proper transmission bias for the system based on the frequency-shift characteristic of the EOIM.

Low-power electro-optic phase modulator based on multilayer graphene/silicon nitride waveguide

Electro-optic modulator is a key component for on-chip optical signal processing.An electro-optic phase modulator based on multilayer graphene embedded in silicon nitride waveguide is demonstrated to fulfill low-power operation.Finite element method is adopted to investigate the interaction enhancement between the graphene flake and the optical mode.The impact of multilayer graphene on the performance of phase modulator is studied comprehensively.Simulation results show that the modulation efficiency improves with the increment of graphene layer number,as well as the modulation length.The 3-dB bandwidth of around 48 GHz is independent of graphene layer number and length.Compared to modulator with two-or four-layer graphene,the six-layer graphene/silicon nitride waveguide modulator can realizeπphase shift at a low-power consumption of 14 fJ/bit when the modulation length is 240μm.

Measurement of Frequency Shift Characteristics Based on LiNbO_3 Waveguide Electro-Optic Intensity Modulator

High-speed and wide-band LiNbO3 waveguide electro-optic intensity modulator has drawn great attention in the field of optical fiber communication and sensor. This paper reports the research results on the measurement of frequency shift characteristics of Mach-Zehnder electro-optic intensity modulator. Two measurement methods of frequency shift characteristics for high and low frequency modulations are studied in theory and experiment and demonstrate different results. The realization of a multi-wavelength optical source based on Mach-Zehnder electro-optic intensity modulator has been introduced. The technique to reach the maximum intensity for interesting shift frequency, particularly for heterodyne detection of Brillouin distributed optical fiber sensing, has been given.

Organic electro-optic polymer materials and organic-based hybrid electro-optic modulators

High performance electro-optic modulator,as the key device of integrated ultra-wideband optical systems,have be-come the focus of research.Meanwhile,the organic-based hybrid electro-optic modulators,which make full use of the advant-ages of organic electro-optic(OEO)materials(e.g.high electro-optic coefficient,fast response speed,high bandwidth,easy pro-cessing/integration and low cost)have attracted considerable attention.In this paper,we introduce a series of high-perform-ance OEO materials that exhibit good properties in electro-optic activity and thermal stability.In addition,the recent progress of organic-based hybrid electro-optic devices is reviewed,including photonic crystal-organic hybrid(PCOH),silicon-organic hy-brid(SOH)and plasmonic-organic hybrid(POH)modulators.A high-performance integrated optical platform based on OEO ma-terials is a promising solution for growing high speeds and low power consumption in compact sizes.

Recent Progress in Silicon Electro-optic Modulators for High Speed Applications

Silicon-based high-speed electro-optical modulator is the key component of silicon photonics for future communiction and interconnection systems. In this paper, introduced are the optical mudulation mechanisms in silicon, reviewed are some recent progresses in high-speed silicon modulators, and analyzed are advantages and shortages of the silicon modulators of different types.

A High-Performance Silicon Electro-Optic Phase Modulator with a Triple MOS Capacitor

We propose and analyze a novel Si-based electro-optic modulator with an improved metal-oxide-semiconductor （MOS） capacitor configuration integrated into silicon-on-insulator （SOl）. Three gate-oxide layers embedded in the silicon waveguide constitute a triple MOS capacitor structure, which boosts the modulation efficiency compared with a single MOS capacitor. The simulation results demonstrate that the Vπ Lπ product is 2. 4V · cm. The rise time and fall time of the proposed device are calculated to be 80 and 40ps from the transient response curve, respectively,indicating a bandwidth of 8GHz. The phase shift efficiency and bandwidth can be enhanced by rib width scaling.

An Electroabsorption Modulator Monolithically Integrated with a Semiconductor Optical Amplifier and a Dual-Waveguide Spot-Size Converter

A semiconductor optical amplifier and electroabsorption modulator monolithically integrated with a spotsize converter input and output is fabricated by means of selective area growth,quantum well intermixing,and asymmetric twin waveguide technology. A 1550-1600nm lossless operation with a high DC extinction ratio of 25dB and more than 10GHz 3dB bandwidth are successfully achieved. The output beam divergence angles of the device in the horizontal and vertical directions are as small as 7.3°× 18.0°, respectively, resulting in a 3.0dB coupling loss with a cleaved single-mode optical fiber.

Mach-Zehnder Electro-Optic Polymer Modulator with C orona Poled Core Layer

A Mach-Zehnder(MZ) electro-optic(EO) modulator are real iz ed,with three optical layers as polymer materials.The functional layer is the co rona poled crosslinkable polyurethane.The ridge waveguide is fabricated by using the spin-coating,poling,photolithography and oxygen reactive ion etching(RIE) techniques.The mode and the modulation properties of these devices are demonstra ted in a micron control system,while the light source works at the wavelength of 1 31 or 1 55 micron.

Mach-Zehnder Type Annealed Proton Exchange Waveguide and Coplanar Waveguide Modulation Electrode LiNbO_3 Intensity Modulator

The characteristics of a conventional LiNbO3 intensity modulator made up of a Mach-Zehnder(MZ) type annealed proton exchange(APE) waveguide and coplanar waveguide(CPW) modulation electrode are presented. The APE waveguide characteristics and their relations with process parameters are analyzed. At the same time, the electrical characteristics of modulation electrode, such as modulation voltage, microwave effective index associated with modulation bandwidth, characteristics impedance, are also investigated in detail.

Polymer Electro-optic Modulator Linear Bias Using the Thermo-optic Effect

A quasi-rectangular waveguide polymer MacH^(-)Zehnder (M-Z) electro-optic (EO) modulator based on an organic/inorganic hybrid material with thermal bias control is fabricated and demonstrated.Linear bias for the modulator is obtained through thermo-optic effect.The optical output is adjusted by changing phase difference between the two arms of the M-Z interferometer.A power consumption of 16.1 m W for π phase change is observed owing to the application of silica cladding.This approach is proved to be effective to suppress direct current drift in polymer EO modulators.

Electro-optical dual modulation on resistive switching behavior in BaTiO3/BiFeO3/TiO2 heterojunction

The novel BaTiO3/BiFeO3/TiO2 multilayer heterojunction is prepared on a fluorine-doped tinoxide(FTO) substrate by the sol–gel method. The results indicate that the Pt/Ba TiO3/BiFeO3/TiO2/FTO heterojunction exhibits stable bipolar resistive switching characteristic, good retention performance, and reversal characteristic. Under different pulse voltages and light fields, four stable resistance states can also be realized. The analysis shows that the main conduction mechanism of the resistive switching characteristic of the heterojunction is space charge limited current(SCLC) effect. After the comprehensive analysis of the band diagram and the P–E ferroelectric property of the multilayer heterojunction, we can deduce that the SCLC is formed by the effect of the oxygen vacancy which is controlled by ferroelectric polarizationmodulated change of interfacial barrier. And the effective photo-generated carrier also plays a regulatory role in resistance state(RS), which is formed by the double ferroelectric layer Ba TiO3/BiFeO3 under different light fields. This research is of potential application values for developing the multi-state non-volatile resistance random access memory(RRAM) devices based on ferroelectric materials.

Analysis of electro-optical intensity modulator for bunch arrival-time monitor at SXFEL

A bunch arrival-time monitor(BAM) based on an electro-optical intensity modulation scheme is currently under development at Shanghai Soft X-ray Free-Electron Laser to meet the high-resolution requirements for bunch stability. The BAM uses a radio frequency signal generated by a pickup cavity to modulate the reference laser pulses in an electro-optical intensity modulator(EOM), and the bunch arrival-time information is derived from the amplitude change of the laser pulse after laser pulse modulation.EOM is a key optical component in the BAM system.Through the basic principle analysis of BAM, many parameters of the EOM are observed to affect the measurement resolution of the BAM system. Therefore, a systematic analysis of the EOM is crucial. In this paper, we present two schemes to compare and analyze an EOM and provide a reference for selecting a new version of the EOM.

Strip Waveguide Directional Coupling Modulator with Equivalent Refractive Index

The equivalent refractive index（ERI） method is employed to analyze the function of the strip waveguide directional coupling modulator（SWM）. Through deducing the diagnostic equation of the Exmn mode of the four-layer media film waveguide equivalent to the SWM,the transmission constant of the symmetrical mode of the positive phase and negative one and the coupling length of powerful transference are obtained. The veracity of ERI is validated with the example of Ex11 basal mode under conditions of comparing the three results of ERI,EIM and Marcatili.

Magneto and Electro-Optic Intensity Modulator Based on Liquid Crystal and Magnetic Fluid Filled Photonic Crystal Fiber

We propose a novel light intensity modulator based on magnetic fluid and liquid crystal（LC） filled photonic crystal fibers（PCFs）. The influences of electric and magnetic fields on the transmission intensity are theoretically and experimentally analyzed and investigated. Both the electric and magnetic fields can manipulate the molecular arrangement of LC to array a certain angle without changing the refractive index of the LC. Therefore, light loss in the PCF varies with the electric and magnetic fields whereas the peak wavelengths remain constant. The experimental results show that the transmission intensity decreases with the increase of the electric and magnetic fields. The cut-off electric field is 0.899 V/um at 20 Hz and the cut-off magnetic field is 195 m T. This simple and compacted optical modulator will have a great prospect in sensing applications.

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.

Experimental comparison between corona and contact poling for EO polymer modulators

Two different poling techniques-corona poling and contact poling in the backdrop of electro-optic （EO） polymer modulators are compared. A 3-layer structure EO polymer modulator is prepared for the poling. The poling setups and procedures of these two different methods are given. It is found that a well-controlled precure step is very critical, otherwise it will result in either lower poling efficiency or damaged film. Experimental results show that contact poling does not create severe surface damage as corona poling and poling voltage is much lower, but corona poling provides higher EO effect than contact poling. Besides, contact poling can provide poling size as large as the substrate size.