Gigahertz-rate optical modulation on Mach-Zehnder PLZT electro-optic modulators formed on silicon substrates by aerosol deposition

Abstract

Mach-Zehnder (MZ) lanthanum-modified lead-zirconatetitanate (PLZT) electro-optic modulators were fabricated on a silicon substrate by aerosol deposition. The fabricated modulator has a reversed-ridge-waveguide structure (with a 1.8-μm-wide ridge) and electrodes for applying a voltage perpendicular to the PLZT core layer. The modulator also has an MZ interferometer structure in which the device length and the electrode length of phase shifter are 1.5 mm and 500 μm, respectively. Optical-characteristics measurements showed that the 2-GHz optical output signal was produced by the modulator. The optical performance proves the validity of using the modulators on silicon substrates for on-chip optical interconnects.

Optical Properties of Multiferroic BiFeO3 Films

“…Figure 2 shows a schematic diagram of an electrooptic-type MZM. [3][4][5] Incident light is split into two waveguides. The output amplitude depends on the phase difference at recombination.…”

10-GHz Operation of a PLZT Electro-Optic Modulator with a Ring Resonator Formed on a Silicon Substrate

“…Optical modulators using material with a high electro-optic (EO) coefficient [5,6] were also demonstrated. However, the operation wavelength of the silicon modulators is limited over 1.2 m [7].…”

“…To realize an optical modulator using high-EO-effect material and to be compatible with the backend process on CMOS fabrication technology, we previously developed Mach-Zehnder lanthanum-modified lead-zirconate-titanate (PLZT), (Pb, La)(Zr, Ti)O 3 , electro-optic (EO) modulators on a silicon substrate by using aerosol deposition (AD), which produced a 2-GHz optical signal [7]. In addition, we designed a PLZT EO modulator with a ring resonator [8] for a smaller and lower-power modulator compared with the MZ PLZT EO modulator.…”