Miniature InGaAsP/InP phase modulator for integrated opto-electronics

Abstract

Miniature, etching ridge InGaAsP/InP Phase Modulator with highly efficient phase shifting efficiency of 60°/V.mm and 43°/V.mm for TE and TM modes, respectively, and 3 dB bandwidth of 650 MHz at 1.52 μm are reported. It is well suited for integrated opto-electronics. Some functions depending on bandwidth of the devices are discussed.     

Operation of low driving voltage cascaded modulator over non-cascaded modulator for 4 dB extinction ratio at 100 giga bit per second (Gbps)

This paper describes improved results when comparing cascaded traveling wave electro absorption modulator (TWEAM) to non-cascaded TWEAM by simulation. Large signal modeling is used for both types of modulators to achieve 4 and 10 dB extinction ratios (ERs) with flat frequency response for applications in short distance as well as long distance optical fiber communication. To obtain 4 and 10 dB ERs with 110 GHz 3 dB bandwidth, a cascaded TWEAM requires 0.4 V peak to peak (V_P-P) and 1 V_P-P input driving voltages respectively. A non-cascaded TWEAM requires about two times the input driving voltage compared to the cascaded modulator to achieve the same values of ER and 3 dB bandwidth. Both modulators have been simulated with the same bias and also use the same circuit parameters except for the total active segment lengths (1 and 0.5 mm for cascaded and non-cascaded modulator respectively) and microstrip lengths to obtain the same ERs and 3 dB bandwidths.     

Fabrication and testing of high quality small germanium plano-convex lens

In this paper, a new method is designed which is accurate (λ/4, λ=632·8 nm) for finishing the small (less than 2·6 mm diameter and a center thickness of 0·4 mm) and soft germanium plano-convex lens. Special features of this process are as follows: (i) it produces a scratch-free and smooth surface; (ii) a precision blocking jig has been constructed which enables the operators to engage centering work of the plano-convex lenses (i.e. the lenses edge are co-axial with the optical axis); (iii) a modified moiré technique rapidly performs the centering test; and (iv) the simulation model has been developed for evaluating the polishing parameters used in this process.     

GaAs travelling-wave optical modulator using a coplanar slow-wave electrode with periodic overlays

A coplanar slow-wave electrode with periodic cross-tie overlays has been used to satisfy the essential phase velocity matching between the modulation and optical waves for wideband travelling-wave optical modulators. For an optimized modulator of 4 mm length at 1.3 m light wavelength, the calculated halfwave modulation voltage (23 V) is slightly higher than that (20 V) of conventional coplanar modulators but the 3 dB bandwidth (100 GHz) is much wider than the bandwidth limit (30 GHz) of walkoff-limited conventional coplanar modulators. The measured effective index (4.61) of the modulation wave is much higher than that (2.65) of conventional coplanar electrodes and agrees very well with the calculated one (4.25).     

Arbitrary shaped, liquid filled reverberators with non-resonant transducers for broadband focusing of ultrasound using Time Reversed Acoustics

The ability to generate short focused ultrasonic pulses with duration on the order of one period of carrier frequency depends on the bandwidth of the transmitter as the pulse duration is inversely proportional to the bandwidth. Conventional focusing arrays used for focusing ultrasound have limited bandwidth due to the resonant nature of the piezoelements generating ultrasound. Theoretically it is possible to build a broadband phased array composed of “non-resonant” elements: wedge-shaped or flat-concave piezotransducers, though there are numerous technical difficulties in designing arrays with hundreds of elements of complex shape. This task is much easier to realize in an alternative technique of ultrasound focusing based on the principles of Time Reversed Acoustics (TRA) because in TRA systems, effective focusing can be achieved with just a few, or even one, transducers. The goal of this study is to demonstrate the possibility of broadband focusing of ultrasonic waves using a TRA system with non-resonant transducers and to explore the factors affecting the performance of such a system. A new type of TRA reverberators, such as water-filled thin-wall plastic vessels, which can be used with the submersible piezotransducers fixed internally in the reverberator, are proposed and tested. The experiments are conducted in a water tank with the walls and bottom covered by a sound absorbing lining. A needle hydrophone mounted on a 3D positioning system is used as a beacon for the TRA focusing and then for measuring the spatial distribution of the focused ultrasound field. The bandwidth and spatial distribution of the signal focused by the TRA system using a single channel with the resonant versus non-resonant transducers have been analyzed. Two types of non-resonant transducers were tested: a flat-concave transducer with a diameter of 30 mm, and a thickness varying from 2 mm in the center to 11 mm at the edge, and a specially designed submersible transducer having an uneven shape with a diameter of about 25 mm and a thickness varying from 2 to 6 mm. It was shown that TRA focusing system using non-resonant transducer had a bandwidth at 10 dB of 500 kHz while the resonant transducer provided about 100 kHz bandwidth. Correspondingly, the extended bandwidth of the TRA focusing system, especially toward higher frequencies, provides a 50% sharper spatial distribution. Furthermore, the relative level of the background ultrasound was reduced by a factor up to 3 as more frequencies were added coherently in focus and incoherently out of focus. Advantages of water-filled reverberators made of thin-wall plastic vessels include easy manufacturing, low costs, extreme simplicity, and good acoustical matching with soft tissues, important for biomedical applications.     

Diode-end-pumped solid-state ultraviolet laser based on intracavity third-harmonic generation of 1.06 μm in YCa4O(BO3)3 crystal

Intracavity type-I sum-frequency mixing of 1.06 μm and 532 nm with a (θ,)=(106°,77.2°)-cut YCOB crystal was performed in a compact laser-diode-pumped solid-state laser. Three type-II phase-matching KTP crystals with different length were used to generate 532 nm light by frequency-doubling of 1.06 μm. The 355 nm output power was measured with the three KTP crystals for Q-switched and continuous-wave (CW) operation, respectively. The maximum ultraviolet output power of 1305 μW was obtained with a 15 mm KTP crystal for CW operation, while the maximum ultraviolet average output power of 124 mW was obtained with a 10 mm KTP crystal for Q-switched operation.     

The temperature dependence of the short wavelength transmittance limit of vacuum ultraviolet window materials—I. Experiment

The short wavelength transmittance limit or cut-off wavelength, λ_co, of LiF, MgF₂, CaF₂, LaF₃, BaF₂, sapphire, synthetic crystal quartz and fused quartz has been measured from about 100°C to about 10°K. λ_co is not a well denned quantity, so for the purpose of this experiment it has been arbitrarily taken as the wavelength where transmittance could just be measured, usually 0.1-0.5 per cent. With one exception λ_co shifted to shorter wavelengths as the sample was cooled; the shift varied from about 40 to 80 Å over the temperature range from 100°C to 10°K, depending on the material, with the largest shift occurring in BaF₂;. The exception was LaF₃ which showed no measurable change in λ_co wth temperature. Over the temperature range from 20° to 100°C the slope of λ_co, with temperature for all materials was fairly constant, but below 20°C it decreased, approaching zero as the temperature approached 20°-10°K. In the case of synthetic crystal quartz, for example, the slope changed from about 0.28 Å/°K at room temperature to about 0.055 Å/°K at 80°K.     

Ultra-Broad-Band LiNbO3 Electro-Optic Modulators with Novel Complex Electrode

The characteristics of Z- cut LiNbO3 optical modulators with novel complex electrode are discussed by using the finite element method (FEM) and studied experimentally in this paper. The travelling wave electrode consists of upper and lower parts. It can easily realize phase velocity matching between microwave and optical wave and drastically reduce microwave electrode loss. An electrooptic modulator with larger than 100 GHz bandwidth and half wave voltage 6 V is designed, fabricated and measured. Vπ is 5.1 V and the attenuation coefficient a0 is 0.3 dB/(cm· GHz1/2 ). The experimental results show that the modulator has great potentiality for expanding bandwidth.     

Ultra-Broad-Band LiNbO_3 Electro-Optic Modulators with Novel Complex Electrode

1 IntroductionFOr LiNbO3 modulators, the bandwidth is mainly restricted by the microwaveattenuation of the travelling--wave electrode and the phase velocity ndsmatch betWeenmicrowave and optical wave in the devices. When the phase velocity matching issatisfied it is very i~rtant to decrease the microwave attenuation for expandingbandwidth. The thecrowave propagating lOSS is the main source Of the microwaveattenuation in the interactive region. The larger the cross-sectional area or the lOn…     

Polymer electrolyte plasticized with PEG-borate ester having high ionic conductivity and thermal stability

We have focused on the PEG-borate ester as a new type of plasticizer for solid polymer electrolyte composed of poly(ethyleneglycol) methacrylate (PEGMA) and lithium bis-trifluoromethanesulfonimide (LiTFSI). The PEG-borate ester shows good thermal stability and high flash point. Ionic conductivity of the polymer electrolyte increases with increasing amount of the PEG-borate ester and exhibits values greater than 10⁻⁴ S cm⁻¹ at 30 °C and 10⁻³ S cm⁻¹ at 60 °C. Furthermore, PEG-borate ester has three EO chains whose lengths are variable, and various ionic conductivities are expected to depend on EO chain length. As a result, polymer electrolyte containing the PEG-borate ester whose EO chain length is n=3 shows highest ionic conductivity. Furthermore, polymer electrolytes containing PEG-borate esters show excellent thermal and electrochemical stability. The electrolytes are thermally stable up to 300 °C and electrochemically up to 4.5 V vs. Li⁺/Li.     

Skin-effect analysis of a shielded polymer Y-fed coupler electro-optic modulator over a wide bandwidth of 94 GHz

A novel technique and related formulations are proposed for analyzing the influences of the skin-effect on the performances of a polymer Y-fed coupler electro-optic modulator with shielded push-pull micro-strip electrodes. Using the extended point-matching method, coupled mode theory and electro-optic modulation theory, thorough design and optimization are performed. By introducing the effective applied voltage, formulas of the high-frequency response under skin-effect are deduced, and characteristics under skin-effect are analyzed. Under the central wavelength of 1550 nm, the half-wave voltage is as low as 1.097 V for the device with an active region length about 8.884 mm. Considering the influences of the skin-effect, the 3-dB modulating bandwidth of the microwave signal is up to 94 GHz. A high extinction ratio of more than 20 dB and a low insertion loss of less than 4.18 dB are achieved when the microwave frequency is below 68 GHz under skin-effect. This design technique is proven to be accurate by the comparison with the beam propagation method (BPM).     

Polymeric Multimode Interference Mach–Zehnder Interferometer Electro-Optic Switch Using Embedded Coplanar Waveguide Electrode: Theory,Design, and Analysis

Abstract

The self-imaging theory is improved for designing a polymer multimode interference Mach–Zehnder interferometer electro-optic switch. The electro-optic overlap factor is enhanced from 0.6510 to 0.9658 through adopting an embedded coplanar waveguide electrode. Considering the mode dispersion effect, formulations of time-domain response are derived, and switching characteristics are analyzed. The total device length is about 7.175 mm, the switching voltage is 2.622 V, and the switching time is 29.90 ps. The lightwave 3-dB bandwidth is 20 nm, the insertion loss is less than 2.70 dB, and the crosstalk under cross and bar states are less than ?55 dB and ?45 dB, respectively.     

Properties of the proposed τ charged lepton

The anomalous eμ and 2-prong μx events produced in e⁺e⁻ annihilation are used to determine the properties of the proposed τ charged lepton. We find the τ mass is 1.90 ± 0.10 GeV/c²; the mass of the associated neutrino, ν_τ, is less than 0.6 GeV/c² with 95% confidence; V - A coupling is favored over V + A coupling for the τ − ν_τ current; and the leptonic branching ratios are 0.186 ± 0.010 ± 0.028 from the eμ events and 0.175 ± 0.027 ± 0.030 from the μx events where the first error is statistical and the second is systematic.     

Integrated Acousto-Optical Temperature Sensor

In this work, we investigate the performance of a novel integrated acousto-optical temperature sensor fabricated in LiNbO₃ and operating with ultrashort light pulses (2 ps). Five parameters (time duration, bandwidth, time intensity maximum, frequency intensity maximum, and output energy on the output pulse converted for the TM mode, as a function of temperature) were observed for the switched pulse at the output of the sensor (TM mode) with and without the presence of an increasing linear self-phase modulation (SPM) profile. Comparing all analyzed parameters, one can conclude that the pulse intensity is presenting the larger variation (100.09%) as a function of the temperature change (24.5 to 400°C) in a configuration without profile. Considering the increasing linear SPM profile, all the analyzed parameters are presenting a significant increase in the percentile variations in the studied range of temperature (24.5 to 400°C). Comparing all the five parameters, in two configurations (with and without the use of linear SPM profile), one can conclude that the time intensity maximum showed to be the most suitable parameter as measurement to be accomplished in a schematic detection for the temperature sensing in the range 24.5 to 400°C. We can conclude that the sensitivity of the AOTS is improving in the configuration with the increasing nonlinearity profile (β = 2) and for higher temperature.     

Characteristic of a broadband Ti:LiNbO3 optical modulator with buried electrodes and etched grooves in the buffer layer

Traveling wave Ti:LiNbO₃ Mach-Zehnder optical modulators with buried electrodes and etched grooves in the SiO₂ buffer layer are analyzed by the finite element method. The tradeoff between the bandwidth BW and the half-wave voltage Vπ is discussed. The value of BW/Vπ is used to weight the total performance of the modulator. Taking a thick buffer layer and etching deep grooves in the buffer layer are demonstrated as two effective methods to improve the performance of the modulator. A 3-dB optical bandwidth of 18 GHz with half-wave voltage 5V at a wavelength of 1.55 pm could be obtained even though the electrode is not very thick. When the requirement of half-wave voltage is not very critical, a bandwidth of more than 100 GHz can be obtained.     

Electron-correlation-induced band renormalization and Mott transition in Ca1-xSrxVO3

We present the local density approximate+Gutzwiller results for the electronic structure of Ca_1-xSr_xVO₃. The substitution of Sr²⁺ by Ca²⁺ reduces the bandwidth, as the V—O—V bond angle decreases from 180° for SrVO₃ to about 160° for CaVO₃. However, we find that the bandwidth decrease induced by the V—O—V bond angle decrease is smaller as compared to that induced by electron correlation. In correlated electron systems, such as Ca_1-xSr_xVO₃, the correlation effect of 3d electrons plays a leading role in determining the bandwidth. The electron correlation effect and crystal field splitting collaboratively determine whether the compounds will be in a metal state or in a Mott-insulator phase.     

64 GHz optical millimeter-wave generation by octupling 8 GHz local oscillator via a nested LiNbO3 modulator

A novel scheme to generate a 64 GHz optical millimeter (mm)-wave via a nested LiNbO₃ Mach-Zehnder modulator with an 8 GHz local oscillator is proposed and simulated. Since the frequency response of the modulator and the local oscillator frequency are greatly reduced, the bandwidth requirements of the optical and electrical components in the transmitter are significantly decreased. The simulation results show that the generated optical mm-wave signal maintains good performance even after being transmitted over 20 km standard single-mode fiber.     

Effect of heat-pretreatment of the graphite rod on the quality of SWCNTs by arc discharge

Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) have been synthesized in high yield by the dc arc discharge technique under heat-pretreatment of the graphite rod conditions. Before executing arc discharge, the graphite rods containing the catalysts were heat treated at 600, 700, 800 and 900 °C for 1–3 h, respectively. Effects of heat-pretreatment of the graphite rod on the quality of SWCNTs by arc discharge were investigated. The heat-treatment temperature and time were found to be crucial for a high yield of high-purity SWCNTs. Optimum parameter was found to be at the heat-treatment temperature of 800 °C for 2 h. The SWCNTs synthesized under the optimum condition have better field-emission characteristics. The turn-on field needed to produce a current density of 10 μA/cm² is found to be 1.9 V/μm and the threshold field where current density reaches 10 mA/cm² is 3.9 V/μm.     

Hybrid silicon modulators Invited Paper

A number of active elements have been demonstrated using the hybrid silicon evanescent platform, includ- ing lasers, amplifiers, and detectors. In this letter, two types of hybrid silicon modulators, fulfilling the building blocks in optical communication on this platform, are presented. A hybrid silicon electroabsorp-tion modulator, suitable for high speed interconnects, with 10-dB extinction ratio at -5 V and 16-GHz modulation bandwidth is demonstrated. In addition, a hybrid silicon Mach-Zehnder modulator utilizing carrier depletion in multiple quantum wells is proved with 2 V.mm voltage-length product, 150-nm optical bandwidth, and a large signal modulation up to 10 Gb/s.     

Atom probe tomography of 15Kh2MFA Cr–Mo–V steel surveillance specimens

An atom probe study has been performed on 15Kh2MFA base and 10KhMFT weld metal surveillance specimens from a VVER-440/213C reactor to investigate the mechanisms that produce embrittlement in low copper materials during service. The composition of the base metal was Fe-0.06 at.% Cu, 3.1% Cr, 0.34% V, 0.46% Mn, 0.35% Mo, 0.07% Ni, 0.34% Si, 0.74% C, 0.025% P, and 0.028% S. The base material was characterized after thermal aging for 10 years at 295°C and after neutron irradiation at 270°C for 10 years to a fluence of 1.0×10²⁵ m⁻² (E>0.5 MeV). The ductile-to-brittle transition temperatures (DBTT) of the base metal were −49, −70 and 141°C, for the unirradiated, thermally aged and neutron irradiated conditions, respectively. The composition of the weld metal was Fe-0.05 at.% Cu, 1.46% Cr, 0.22% V, 1.11% Mn, 0.29% Mo, 1.17% Si, 0.17% C, 0.02% P, and 0.029% S. The weld material was characterized after tempering for 18 h at 690°C plus a simulated stress relief treatment of 43.5 h at 680°C, after thermal aging for 5 years at 295°C, and after neutron irradiation at 275°C for 5 years to a fluence of 5.2×10²⁴ m² (E>0.5 MeV). The DBTTs were 7, 11 and 123°C, respectively, for these three conditions. A high number density of ultrafine manganese- and silicon-enriched regions was observed in both neutron-irradiated materials. Phosphorus segregation was observed at the VC-matrix interface and at grain boundaries.