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…     

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.     

InP基矩形马赫-曾德高速电光调制器行波电极设计与测试

提出了一种由新型沟槽耦合器和90°弯曲波导构成的InGaAsP/InP基矩形马赫-曾德电光调制器,对该调制器的L型波导相移臂设计了T型类微带行波电极.首先利用电极的等效电路估算带宽上限,进而在考虑阻抗匹配、回波损耗以及带宽等性能的基础上,使用有限元方法对电极的传输、输入/输出以及过渡区的结构参量进行优化.仿真结果表明由于受到电极输入及过渡区的性能限制,设计的整体行波电极匹配阻抗大于42Ω,回波损耗小于-15dB,带宽可达65GHz.测试制备的Ti/Au行波电极,得到回波损耗为-12dB和带宽为20GHz的最优性能.     

行波电光相位调制器输出响应的定量分析

从标量波动方程出发,采用傅里叶变换的方法,导出了行波电光相位调制器的时间域输出响应的计算公式。以高斯脉冲调制信号为例,定量计算并讨论了速度不匹配和微波衰减对输出相位调制信号的脉冲形状,峰值,半值宽的影响,所得到的结果,对行波电光调制器的实验研究有很好的参考价值,所给出的公式和方法适用于行波电光调制器的时间域定量分析。     

A novel super-broadband travelling-wave modulator with nonperiodic domain inversions and ridge structure

In order to obtain large broadband, a novel travelling-wave modulator with nonperiodic domain inversions and ridge structure is proposed. The composite structure is designed to achieve velocity matching between the optical wave and the microwave, to get a 50Ωcharacteristic impedance and to reduce the loss of the microwave electrodes with finite element method (FEM). The calculation results show that the frequency response of the new device is flat up to 350 GHz with interaction length of 1 cm, characteristic impedance of 49Ω, and microwave refractive index of 2.5.     

Analysis of electrooptically induced waveguides in strontium barium niobate and optical modulators

An electrooptically induced optical waveguide can be formed by applying a DC voltage between electrodes fabricated on the surface of a crystal with strong electrooptic coefficients (for example, strontium barium niobate). Calculations of the refractive index profile and the optical mode size for such waveguides are presented. Approximate solutions for the fundamental mode are used to analyse the power coupling between a single-mode step-profile fibre and these waveguides. The power transmission losses in the straight and S-shaped waveguides are estimated by using a finite-difference beam propagation method (FD-BPM). The calculations predict that a new kind of modulator/switch can be realized with the induced waveguides. The important characteristics of these devices are discussed and compared with LiNbO₃ optical waveguide modulators.     

Coupled mode analysis of light modulation in dielectric waveguides

A detailed analysis of electrooptic light modulation in optical waveguides is presented. Several important problems of a waveguide modulator, such as the difference of waveguide axes from crystalline electrooptic ones, the distribution of transverse and longitudinal field components of light modes, and the traveling-wave property of the modulating field, are discussed. The analysis is based on the coupled mode theory, regarding the modulation as the coupling among sidebands of unperturbed waveguide modes. The coupled mode equation is derived for the modulation in optical waveguides. It can be solved if the normal modes of the waveguide are given. Actually the equation is solved for the modulation in dielectric slab waveguides and the mechanism of modulation is discussed. The results of the analysis are applied to designing two types of waveguide modulators. In an example (10.6 μm modulator with a GaAs slab waveguide) a new efficient crystal orientation is found. The calculated phase retardation with this orientation is 0.13 rad/(V·cm) with a 1 μm thick slab. Another example of a 0.633 μm modulator using a LiTaO₃ crystal as a substrate is also described.     

Hybrid Electrodes Used in Polymer Electro-Optic Modulator with Ultra-Broadband

Hybrid electrode combined coplanar waveguide (CPW) and microstrip lines in ultra-broadband electro-optic modulators. The characteristics of the modulators with hybrid electrode is like that of the modulator with the microstrip lines, in which the microstrip electrode is loaded above only one arm of Mach-Zehnder (M-Z) optical waveguide, besides the problem of microstrip line to coaxial transition and corona polarization in polymer modulators have been best solved at the same time. By using finite element method (FEM), the characteristic parameters such as half-wave voltage, modulation bandwidth characteristic impedance, effective microwave refractive index of polymer modulators with microstrip line and hybrid electrode are analysed and compared in this paper. The results present that velocity match, impendence match and lower microwave propagating loss is easily realized in modulators with hybrid electrode.     

Optical Single-Sideband Modulators and Their Applications

We review our recent work in the implementation of optical single-sideband (OSSB) modulation and in the application of this modulation format to microwave photonics and optical testing systems. We have developed an enhanced OSSB modulator for wide-band operation, the so-called bidirectional OSSB modulator, and a simplification of this scheme for narrow-band applications. These OSSB modulators are based on the use of a standard single-electrode Mach-Zehnder electro-optic modulator (MZ-EOM) and passive fiber-optic components. In both designs, the OSSB operation is shown to be independent of the MZ-EOM bias. Therefore, the optical modulation depth at the output of the device can be enhanced using minimum transmission biasing to provide suppression of the optical carrier. Finally, we demonstrate the application of OSSB modulators to the improvement of microwave/millimeter-wave subcarrier multiplexing fiber-optic links and to narrow-band fiber radio systems. In addition, we analyzed the feasibility and the limitations of an optical vector network analysis technique based on OSSB modulation that can provide sub-picometer wavelength resolution.     

Optical Single-Sideband Modulators and Their Applications

We review our recent work in the implementation of optical single-sideband (OSSB) modulation and in the application of this modulation format to microwave photonics and optical testing systems. We have developed an enhanced OSSB modulator for wide-band operation, the so-called bidirectional OSSB modulator, and a simplification of this scheme for narrow-band applications. These OSSB modulators are based on the use of a standard single-electrode Mach-Zehnder electro-optic modulator (MZ-EOM) and passive fiber-optic components. In both designs, the OSSB operation is shown to be independent of the MZ-EOM bias. Therefore, the optical modulation depth at the output of the device can be enhanced using minimum transmission biasing to provide suppression of the optical carrier. Finally, we demonstrate the application of OSSB modulators to the improvement of microwave/millimeter-wave subcarrier multiplexing fiber-optic links and to narrow-band fiber radio systems. In addition, we analyzed the feasibility and the limitations of an optical vector network analysis technique based on OSSB modulation that can provide sub-picometer wavelength resolution.     

Ultrabroad-bandwidth electro-optic modulator based on a cascaded Bragg grating

It is shown that the bandwidth of a traveling-wave electro-optical modulator can be greatly increased by matching of the group velocities of the optical and rf waves in the waveguides with cascaded Bragg gratings. A LiNbO>(3) Mach-Zehnder modulator with 1-V half-wave voltage and a bandwidth in excess of 100 GHz is proposed and its performance evaluated.     

Photonic approach to the measurement of time-difference-of-arrival and angle-of-arrival of a microwave signal

We propose and experimentally demonstrate a photonic approach to the measurement of the time-difference-of-arrival (TDOA) and the angle-of-arrival (AOA) of a microwave signal. In the proposed system, the TDOA and the AOA are equivalently converted into a phase shift between two replicas of a microwave signal received at two cascaded modulators. The light wave from a CW laser is externally modulated by the microwave signal at the first modulator, which is biased to suppress the optical carrier, leading to the generation of two first-order sidebands, which are further modulated by the phase-delayed microwave signal at the second modulator. Two optical components at the carrier wavelength are generated. The total power at the carrier wavelength is a function of the phase shift due to the coherent interference between the two components. Thus, by measuring the optical power, the phase shift is estimated. The AOA is calculated from the measured phase shifts. In our experiment, the phase shift of a microwave signal at 18 GHz from -160° to 40° is measured with measurement errors of less than ±2.5°.     

Electro-optical modulator using SiO2 waveguides with thermal poling on a Si substrate

A novel optical modulator using SiO₂ waveguides on a silicon substrate is proposed. The modulator is analyzed and designed with the finite element method. The numerical results have shown that an optimally designed modulator can give a broad bandwidth, good impedance match, and low cost. The proposed modulator can be fabricated easily using Si-based very large-scale integrated technology, and it is very suitable for opto-electronic integrated circuits.     

基于双通道马赫曾德尔调制器调制边带滤波的微波光子移相器

提出了一种基于双通道马赫曾德尔调制器(DPMZM)调制边带滤波的微波光子移相器。在双通道马赫曾德尔调制器的结构中,在一路马赫曾德尔干涉仪上实现抑制光载波的双边带调制输出,而在另一路马赫曾德尔的相位调节臂上通过调节偏置电压实现光载波信号的光学移相,两路光信号经过干涉合路后由光纤布拉格光栅(FBG)滤除其中一个一阶边带,最后输入到光电探测器(PD)进行光电转换得到移相的微波信号。实验结果表明,基于DPMZM调制边带滤波的微波光子移相器具有传输特性稳定、输出幅度波动小的优点。该结构还具有相移调节响应速度快、应用频带宽以及移相范围大于360°等特点。     

General analyses of infinite impulse microwave photonic filters with an intensity modulator in an opto–electronic feedback loop

Designs of coherence-free microwave photonic filters with infinite impulse response (IIR) are presented. They are based on an electrical–optical modulator or electrical-absorption modulator with an opto–electronic feedback loop. General theoretical analyses for those configurations are obtained. When an electrical–optical intensity modulator is used for the IIR filter, the stopband of the filter can be switched to passband and vice versa. Measured results match closely with the theoretical expressions and demonstrate more than 30 dB rejection ratio and high frequency selectivity.     

Microwave and millimeter-wave losses in conventional optoelectronic devices

In this paper, microwave characteristics of conventional optoelectronic devices, with emphasis on devices with microstrip (MS) and coplanar waveguide (CPW) electrode structures, are obtained. This analysis is essential for any improvement in the structure of the conventional optoelectronic devices so as to obtain a high performance. Microwave loss is one of the important bandwidth limitation factors in microwave and millimeter-wave (mmW) optical devices. Different sources of loss including ohmic, dielectric and radiating loss in MS and CPW of conventional optical devices are analyzed and compared. The results show that the total microwave loss increases with frequency in conventional MS and CPW waveguides. Also, in traveling-wave optoelectronic devices, the bandwidth is limited in the optical part by effects such as the carrier transit time effect and in the microwave part by factors such as length of the devices in active and non-active sections. In addition, validation of the results in the paper is performed with published theoretical and/or measurement results.     

用于获取大调制度的驻波型电光调制器的设计与制作

设计并制作了一种采用微波驻波电极的电光调制器,该调制器被用于光谱展宽。通过非周期极性反转方法,在１６．２５ＧＨｚ的调制频率下实现了微波驻波与光波的相位匹配,从而获得了大调制度。实验中光谱展宽达到２．５ＴＨｚ。     

超高速行波电吸收调制器的k值设计方法

介绍了一种用于超高速行波电吸收调制器(TW-EAM)设计的“k值带宽法”.该方法考虑了影响调制器带宽的阻抗失配、相速度失配、微波衰减等因素,说明一个优化设计的TW-EAM其带宽可达到140 GHz.     

基于两种静磁模的磁光压缩特性比较

将磁光效应作为微扰, 采用耦合模理论分析了磁光薄膜波导中微波静磁波对线性啁啾光脉冲的磁光Bragg衍射作用, 得到了传统磁化时磁光共线和非共线作用下的衍射光脉冲复振幅的解析表达式。在静磁波频率和波数相同的前提下, 通过对实际波导结构的计算表明, 基于静磁表面波的磁光共线作用比基于静磁正向体波的非共线作用更易于实现光脉冲压缩; 衍射光脉冲的半极大全宽度(FWHM)对失配斜率的依赖较为敏感。因此, 选用磁光共线作用和优化相位失配因子的频率变化率有助于改善磁光Bragg脉冲压缩器的性能。     

Complex FEM modal solver of optical waveguides with PML boundary conditions

A full-wave modal analysis of two-dimensional, lossy and anisotropic optical waveguides using the finite element method (FEM) is presented. In order to describe the behavior of radiating fields, anisotropic perfectly matched layer boundary conditions are applied for the first time in modal solvers. The approach has been implemented using high order edge elements. The resulting sparse eigenvalue algebraic problem is solved through the Arnoldi method. Application to an antiresonant reflecting optical waveguide is reported.