Gigahertz modulators using bulk acousto-optic interactions in thin-film waveguides

When bulk acoustic waves are applied to an optical waveguide, several modulation effects are observed, depending on the type of wave (longitudinal or shear). Longitudinal sound waves frequency-shift the guided light, thus providing a means of modulating light in a wide variety of waveguide materials. Using thin-film mosaic acoustic transducer technology, we have demonstrated such modulation at frequencies in the gigahertz region. By segmenting the acoustic transducer electrodes, the same arrangement can be used for deflecting the light since, with this arrangement, the acoustic field sets up a time-varying grating whose spatial frequency is set by the segment spacing. Theoretical frequency limitations on these devices do not appear to be important until approximately 30 GHz is reached. Thus, they are potentially useful for extremely wide-band data links. Experiments at 1.5 GHz show 30% bandwidth of acoustic modulation using optical heterodyne detection.     

Experimental study of acoustooptical interaction in lithium niobate in the frequency range from 7.5 to 10.5 GHz

Results of the studies of acoustooptical interaction in a lithium niobate crystal upon excitation of an elastic wave in the direction of the X-axis by a multielement piezoelectric transducer at frequencies about 10 GHz are presented. The experimental method is described. Frequency dependences of the diffracted light intensity and acoustic damping as well as the frequency resolving power are studied. Damping of longitudinal acoustic waves in X-cut lithium niobate is measured to be 1.05±0.02 dB/cm GHz. The maximum diffraction efficiency reached 1% for 1 W of electromagnetic power supplied. The frequency bandwidths at the levels of 3 and 6 dB of the maximum value are 2.5 and 3 GHz, respectively. The frequency resolution is 15 MHz at the frequency of 9 GHz.     

Optimization of direct modulation rate for circular microlasers by adjusting mode Q factor

Semiconductor microcircular lasers have been investigated as potential light sources for photonic integrated circuits and optical interconnections for more than two decades. However, the direct modulation bandwidths of the circular microlasers remain a challenge, especially when being compared with other microlasers, such as photonic crystal lasers. In this paper, microcircular lasers connected to an output waveguide are investigated for high‐speed direct modulation with optimized mode Q factors. Small signal modulation with a resonance frequency of f_R = 12.5 GHz is realized for a AlGaInAs/InP circular microlaser with a radius of 10 µm at 290 K. Furthermore, clear eye diagrams are observed at 12.5 Gbit/s for a 15‐µm radius circular microlaser with f_R = 6.9 GHz.     

Effect of shallow water internal waves on ocean acoustic striation patterns

Abstract

Contour plots of underwater acoustic intensity, mapped in range and frequency, often exhibit striations. It has been claimed that a scalar parameter ‘beta’, defined in terms of the slope of the striations, is invariant to the details of the acoustic waveguide. In shallow water, the canonical value is β=1. In the present paper, the waveguide invariant is modelled as a distribution rather than a scalar. The effects of shallow water internal waves on the distribution are studied by numerical simulation. Realizations of time-evolving shallow water internal wave fields are synthesized and acoustic propagation simulated using the parabolic equation method. The waveguide invariant distribution is tracked as the internal wave field evolves in time. Both random background internal waves and more event-like solitary internal waves are considered.     

Coherent Brillouin spectroscopy in a strongly scattering liquid by picosecond ultrasonics

In a modification of a picosecond ultrasonic technique, a short acoustic pulse is launched into a liquid sample by a laser pulse absorbed in a semitransparent transducer film and is detected via coherent Brillouin scattering of a time-delayed probe pulse. With both excitation and probing performed from the transducer side, the arrangement is suitable for in vivo study of biological tissues. The signal is collected from a micrometer-thick layer next to the transducer and is not affected by the diffuse scattering of probe light deeper in the sample. The setup, utilizing a 33 nm thick single crystal SrRuO(3) transducer film, is tested on a full fat milk sample, with 11 GHz acoustic frequency recorded.     

Lifshitz Tails for Acoustic Waves in Random Quantum Waveguide

In this study, we consider acoustic operators in a random quantum waveguide. Precisely we deal with an elliptic operator in the divergence form on a random strip. We prove that the integrated density of states of the relevant operator exhibits Lifshitz behavior at the bottom of the spectrum. This result could be used to prove localization of acoustic waves at the bottom of the spectrum. 2000 Mathematics Subject Classification: 81Q10, 35P05, 37A30, 47F05     

Acousto-optic interaction with leaky surface acoustic waves in Y-cut LiTaO3 crystals

The acousto-optic interaction with leaky surface acoustic wave radiation into the bulk of YX-cut LiTaO₃ crystals has been investigated. The light incidence and diffraction angles corresponding to the strongest acousto-optic interaction were calculated and measured as functions of the acoustic wave frequency. The dependencies of the diffracted light intensity on the amplitude of radio-frequency voltage applied to the interdigital transducer (IDT) were studied. Our acousto-optic measurements revealed generation, by the IDTs, of slow shear bulk acoustic waves propagating at different angles depending on their frequency. A secondary acousto-optic interaction from the bulk waves radiated by the receiving IDT has been studied.     

Acousto-optic light deflection in an Al2O3 optical waveguide structure

The total deflection of an optical guided wave by a surface acoustic wave (SAW) in a silicon-based SiO₂/AL₂O₃/SiO₂ optical waveguide structure is reported. The SAW is generated by an interdigital transducer with piezoelectric ZnO deposited on top of the optical waveguide structure.     

Interaction of light with acoustic waves excited by an inphase multielement transducer in the 1.0–2.5 GHz range

Interaction between a weakly divergent optical beam and an acoustic wave generated in the range 1.0–2.5 GHz by an inphase multielement electroacoustic piezoelectric transducer is analyzed. A piezoelectric (Y + 36°)-cut LiNbO₃ plate is fixed on the surface of an X-cut LiNbO₃ acoustic duct with the help of metallic sublayers (Cr, Cu, In, Cu, or Cr). The inphase structure of the transducer is formed by the upper electrodes inter-connected by short conductors. The signal is applied through a coaxial Chebyshev transformer. The efficiencies of electroacoustic conversion and acoustooptic interaction are calculated as functions of frequency. The experimental setup, method, and results are described.     

Optimization of Optical Add-Drop Multiplexers Based on Arrayed Waveguide Gratings with Fabrication Errors for Transparent Optical Networks

A transparent optical network (TON) composed by optical add-drop multiplexers based on arrayed waveguide grating (AWG) with fabrication errors is optimized for 10 Gbit/s per channel and channel spacing of 25 GHz. The optimization takes into account the effect of inter-symbol interference, amplified spontaneous emission noise accumulation, and coherent and incoherent homodyne crosstalk. Numerical results reveal that AWG fabrication errors can have a high influence on the TON performance; however, in all investigated situations, they do not affect the AWG parameters values corresponding to the optimum AWG frequency response. This surprising behavior is due to the fabrication errors affect mainly the AWG response outside the passband for the required AWG crosstalk level. It is shown that the optimum AWG frequency response is a flat-top response with a mean amplitude response outside the passband lower than ?30 dB and the switch isolation should exceed 30 dB.     

Generation of acoustic surface waves on GaAs by photoexcitation

In the experiments reported here we observed the generation of non-thermal, large amplitude acoustic surface waves at GHz frequencies on the surface of a GaAs crystal under intense illumination with 514.5 nm radiation from an Ar⁺ laser at room temperature. The acoustic surface waves were detected by optical Brillouin spectroscopy.     

Precise Underwater Distance Measurement by Dual Acoustic Frequency Combs

Underwater acoustics is of fundamental importance for marine science and technology. However, acoustic waves transmitted by state‐of‐the‐art underwater acoustic systems are not inherently phase locked, which hinders the development of underwater acoustic technology. For example, the precision of underwater distance measurement can only achieve centimeter level. As a versatile tool, optical frequency combs have enabled revolutionary progress in optical metrology and precision measurement. In parallel with optical frequency combs, here, the generation of fully stabilized, underwater acoustic frequency combs is reported, in which equidistant acoustic modes are produced via a hydroacoustic transducer. The precision of each individual acoustic mode is measured to be 10^?9 at 1 s and 10^?12 at 1000 s averaging times. Underwater distance measurements are carried out in an anechoic pool using a dual‐comb scheme. Comparison with reference values shows consistency within 50 µm (7 × 10^?6 in relative). The relatively long‐duration experiments at 7 m distance yield an Allan deviation of 1.8 µm (2.6 × 10^?7 in relative) at 1 s and further 480 nm (6.8 × 10^?8 in relative) at 40 s averaging times. The approach to acoustic frequency comb generation offers a promising and powerful platform for future underwater distance measurement, positioning, and navigation.     

Dispersion Robustness of Millimeter Waves Generated by Up-Conversion Strategies

Abstract

The performance degradation caused by transmission along dispersive single-mode fibers of optically generated millimeter-wave signals using up-conversion is theoretically assessed and validated by numerical simulation. Up-conversion techniques based on optical double sideband, optical single sideband, and optical carrier suppression are considered. The generation of 60 GHz by frequency tripling using the optical single sideband is shown to be particularly tolerant to the fiber dispersion. The practical imbalance of Mach-Zehnder modulators is taken into account for optical carrier suppression modulation, where the finite extinction ratio is found to increase tolerance to fiber dispersion.     

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).     

1.5 μm Ti:LiNbO3电光波导强度调制器

用钛内扩散技术和常规光刻手段,研制出1.5μmLiN_bO₃电光波导强度调制器。它由单模波导非对称Mach-Zehnder干涉仪和三电极共平面波导组成。干涉仪的两个臂长相差波导波长的四分之一,使器件在最佳线性点工作,无需外加电偏压。集总调制和行波调制的理论带宽分别为1GHz和7.8GHz。对于集总器件,测量了调制特性,半波电压为9.5V,调制带宽为0.7GHz。     

Generation and detection of nano ultrasound waves with a multiple strained layer structure

In this paper a multiple strained layer structure with multiple quantum wells as a piezoelectric transducer is proposed for generating and detecting nano ultrasound waves with nanometer wavelength and tera hertz frequency. By inducing femtosecond optical pulses at this strained structure, internal piezoelectric field is changed. As a result longitudinal acoustic phonon oscillations can be treated as nano acoustic waves. It could be noticed in simulated cases that detection of nano ultrasound waves can be used in non destructive testing and high accuracy measurements with this structure. It is also shown that the MQW structure design how influences in generated nano acoustic waves.     

Distinctive features of Raman-Nath scattering of light by sound in easy-plane antiferromagnets

This paper discusses the acoustic diffraction of light in the presence of an exchange-enhanced photoelastic interaction of aniferromagnetic origin resulting from acoustic modulation of the dielectric permittivity due to oscillations in the antiferromagnetism vector L. In the “easy-plane” type of antiferromagnet these oscillations arise from antiferromagnetoelastic interactions, and can be so large that the photoelastic interaction corresponding to them can be comparable in value to (or even exceed) the interaction in well-known nonmagnetic crystals actually used in acoustooptic devices. The advantage of antiferromagnets lies in the fact that both the diffraction angle and the amplitude of the diffracted light can depend on the magnitude and direction of a magnetic field in these materals. Here the Raman-Nath diffraction regime is discussed, which is probably more favorable from an experimental point of view for the antiferromagnets in question. It is shown that for these materials, the usual mechanism of photoelastic interaction associated with acoustic modulation of the index of refraction is accompanied by an additional mechanism arising from modulation of the polarization of the optical modes. Qualitative estimates are given for FeBO₃. Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 112, 1464–1475 (October 1997)     

Modulation instability in lossy silicon optical waveguide

Taking into account the small linear loss of silicon-on-insulator(SOI) waveguide, conditions and gain spectra of modulation instability(MI) induced by combined effects of self-phase modulation and waveguide dispersions are investigated. The impacts of various parameters to gain spectra of MI are analyzed theoretically. Results show that strong MI takes place even in the existence of low light power. The MI peak gain is 2 to 3 orders of magnitude larger than that achieved in optical fibers with the same light power. The linear loss of waveguide impacts gain spectra of MI, even within ultra-short propagation distance. The peak gain, peak gain frequency and bandwidth of gain spectra decrease to 66.828%, 41.683% and 41.6879% of their maxima at propagation distance z = 5mm, respectively.     

Design of a TE10-TE30 Rectangular Mode Converter for 4.6GHz LHCD Launcher in the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak

A compact rectangular TE10-TE30 mode converter is developed for the lower hybrid current drive （LHCD） launcher on the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak （EAST） at 4.6 GHz. The converter with periodic width perturbation aims to divide the microwave power into three sub-waveguides in the poloidal direction. We present the design and numerical calculation of the mode converter. Calculations are performed on the ripple wall converter by codes based on numerical solving the coupled-mode differential equations and on the simulation of the High Frequency Structure Simulator （HFSS） package. The resulting conversion efficiency from TE10 mode to TE30 mode exceeds 95% within the bandwidth from 4.56 GHz to 4.64 GHz, and the return loss of the oversized transducer can be considerably decreased to 0.068% by means of a capacitive button embedded in the E-plane of the waveguide.     

Asymmetrically Apodized Linearly Chirped Fiber Bragg Gratings for Efficient Pulse Compression

Abstract

A simple and stable technique of optical short pulse generation for soliton transmission based on external modulation is reviewe.By using nonlinearity of absorption characteristics of an electroabsorption modulator, ultra-short optical pulse trains having a shape close to sech² shape can be generated just with sinusoidal modulation, without ultra-short driving pulses and ultra-broad bandwidth of the modulator. The pulse width and the repetition rate can be varied by changing the electrical driving conditions. Quasi-transform-limited optical pulseswith time-bandwidth product of 0.32 were successfully generated by the sinusoidally driven InGaAsP electroabsorption modulator with up to 20 GHz repetition rate. An application of a λ/4-shifted DFB laser-electroabsorption modulator integrated light source to a single-chip soliton source is also described. The high quality of the modulator-generator pulses has been proven by long-distance soliton transmission over 6400 km at 2.5 Gb/s using a recirculating fiber loop.