High-speed electro-optic modulator based on silicon nitride loaded lithium niobate on an insulator platform

Abstract

Electro-optic (EO) modulators, which convert signals from the electrical to optical domain plays a key role in modern optical communication systems. Lithium niobate on insulator (LNOI) technology has emerged as a competitive solution to realize high-performance integrated EO modulators. In this Letter, we design and experimentally demonstrate a Mach–Zehnder interferometer-based modulator on a silicon nitride loaded LNOI platform, which not only takes full advantage of the excellent EO effect of L i N b O 3 , but also avoids the direct etching of L i N b O 3 thin film. The measured half-wave voltage length product of the fabricated modulator is 2.24 V·cm, and the extinction ratio is ∼ 20 d B . Moreover, the 3 dB EO bandwidth is ∼ 30 G H z , while the modulated data rate for on–off key signals can reach up to 80 Gbps.

Monolithic Photonic Integrated Circuit Based on Silicon Nitride and Lithium Niobate on Insulator Hybrid Platform

“…Here, the Si 3 N 4 -LNOI hybrid platform is formed by the silicon substrate, the buried oxide layer, the lithium niobate thin lm and the Si 3 N 4 loading layer. The thicknesses of the buried oxide layer, the lithium niobate thin lm and the Si 3 N 4 loading layer are chosen as 4.7 μm, 300 nm and 300 nm respectively, following our previous work 29 . The proposed PIC is designed along the crystallographic Z direction, for a full use of the strongest electro-optic coe cient of lithium niobate.…”

“…At last, Si 3 N 4 has similar optical transparency window and low material loss with lithium niobate 25 , which also means the performance of PICs based on such hybrid platform will not suffer signi cant degradation caused by the introduction of loading material. Currently, various active and passive devices have been proposed and demonstrated on Si 3 N 4 -LNOI hybrid platform [19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30] .…”

“…Currently, various active and passive devices have been proposed and demonstrated on the Si 3 N 4 -LNOI hybrid platform. [19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30] DOI: 10.1002/adpr.202200121 Lithium niobate on insulator (LNOI) has been demonstrated as a promising platform for photonic integrated circuits (PICs), thanks to its excellent properties such as strong electro-optic effect, low material loss, and wide transparency window. Herein, a monolithic PIC for high-speed data communication application on a lithium-niobate-etchless platform with silicon nitride (Si 3 N 4 ) as a loading material is proposed and demonstrated.…”

3D design and analysis of an electro-optically tunable athermal and polarization-insensitive ring resonator-based add-drop filter for DWDM systems

“…The Electro-optic (EO) effect can be enhanced by deposition of a thin-film of Lithium Niobate with a high EO coefficient (33 pm/V) [47] on top of the silicon dioxide and hence reduce the applied voltage (low power consumption). This association has been used in high-speed electro-optic modulators [42] [48] [49] operating at low voltages. Graphene electrodes are preferred to conventional metal electrodes to prevent the need of buffer layer and further reduce the drive voltage [50] .…”

Wide Bandwidth Silicon Nitride Strip-Loaded Grating Coupler on Lithium Niobate Thin Film

“…Si 3 N 4 strip-loaded LNOI can make use of the properties of Si 3 N 4 and LN, leading to heterogeneous photonic devices. Various photonic devices have been reported in Si 3 N 4 strip-loaded LNOI, including a multiplexer [15], a micro-ring resonator [16], and an electrooptic modulator [17]. A large bandwidth can be obtained by using Si 3 N 4 grating couplers, such as Si 3 N 4 -on-SOI grating couplers [18,19].…”