Mach-Zehnder modulators fabricated by gallium diffusion in y-cut lithium niobate (LiNbO 3 ) are presented. The measured halfwave voltages are 6.2 and 3.2 V when the electrode lengths are 0.4 and 0.8 cm, respectively. By calculating the overlap integral between the modulating electric and the guided optical fields, the value of the electrooptic coefficient r 33 is found in good agreement with that of the bulk LiNbO 3 , which indicates no significant degradation in r 33 is induced by the in-diffused gallium atoms.