Showing papers on "Optical modulator published in 2021"

Thermally switching between perfect absorber and asymmetric transmission in vanadium dioxide-assisted metamaterials.

Abstract: In this paper, we propose a switchable bi-functional metamaterial device based on a hybrid gold-vanadium dioxide (VO2) nanostructure. Utilizing the property of a metal-to-insulator transition in VO2, perfect absorption and asymmetric transmission (AT) can be thermally switched for circularly polarized light in the near-infrared region. When VO2 is in the metallic state, the designed metamaterial device behaves as a chiral-selective plasmonic perfect absorber, which can result in an optical circular dichroism (CD) response with a maximum value ∼ 0.7. When VO2 is in the insulating state, the proposed metamaterial device exhibits a dual-band AT effect. The combined hybridization model and electromagnetic field distributions are presented to explain the physical mechanisms of chiral-selective perfect absorption and AT effect, respectively. The influences of structure parameters on CD response and AT effect are also discussed. Moreover, the proposed switchable bi-functional device is robust against the incident angle for obtaining perfect absorption and strong CD response as well as the AT effect. Our work may provide a promising path for the development of multifunctional optoelectronic devices, such as thermal emitters, optical modulators, CD spectroscopy, optical isolator, etc.

Multiple Fano resonances excitation on all-dielectric nanohole arrays metasurfaces

Abstract: Both toroidal dipoles, electric dipoles and magnetic dipoles belong to one type of electromagnetic excitation. In this paper, we present an all-dielectric metasurface composed of an array of square nanoholes. It can simultaneously generate four resonance responses excited by TD, EQ and MD in the continuous near-infrared band. By introducing the in-plane symmetry breaking of the unit cell, asymmetric dielectric nanohole arrays are used to achieve two quasi-BIC resonance modes with high Q-factors excited by EQ and MD. The paper theoretically analyzes and demonstrates the relationship between structural asymmetry and the radiative Q-factor of two Fano resonances, that are governed by symmetry-protected BICs. And multipole decomposition and near-field analysis are performed to demonstrate the dominant role of various electromagnetic excitations in the four modes. The spectra response is also calculated for different incident polarization angles and medium refractive indices. The proposed metasurface is more feasible and practical compared to other complex nanostructures, which may open avenues for the development of applications such as biochemical sensing, optical switches and optical modulators, and provide a reference for the design of devices with polarization-independent properties.

Slow light bimodal interferometry in one-dimensional photonic crystal waveguides

Abstract: Strongly influenced by the advances in the semiconductor industry, the miniaturization and integration of optical circuits into smaller devices has stimulated considerable research efforts in recent decades. Among other structures, integrated interferometers play a prominent role in the development of photonic devices for on-chip applications ranging from optical communication networks to point-of-care analysis instruments. However, it has been a long-standing challenge to design extremely short interferometer schemes, as long interaction lengths are typically required for a complete modulation transition. Several approaches, including novel materials or sophisticated configurations, have been proposed to overcome some of these size limitations but at the expense of increasing fabrication complexity and cost. Here, we demonstrate for the first time slow light bimodal interferometric behaviour in an integrated single-channel one-dimensional photonic crystal. The proposed structure supports two electromagnetic modes of the same polarization that exhibit a large group velocity difference. Specifically, an over 20-fold reduction in the higher-order-mode group velocity is experimentally shown on a straightforward all-dielectric bimodal structure, leading to a remarkable optical path reduction compared to other conventional interferometers. Moreover, we experimentally demonstrate the significant performance improvement provided by the proposed bimodal photonic crystal interferometer in the creation of an ultra-compact optical modulator and a highly sensitive photonic sensor.

2D-3D integration of hexagonal boron nitride and a high-κ dielectric for ultrafast graphene-based electro-absorption modulators.

Abstract: Electro-absorption (EA) waveguide-coupled modulators are essential building blocks for on-chip optical communications. Compared to state-of-the-art silicon (Si) devices, graphene-based EA modulators promise smaller footprints, larger temperature stability, cost-effective integration and high speeds. However, combining high speed and large modulation efficiencies in a single graphene-based device has remained elusive so far. In this work, we overcome this fundamental trade-off by demonstrating the 2D-3D dielectric integration in a high-quality encapsulated graphene device. We integrated hafnium oxide (HfO2) and two-dimensional hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) within the insulating section of a double-layer (DL) graphene EA modulator. This combination of materials allows for a high-quality modulator device with high performances: a ~39 GHz bandwidth (BW) with a three-fold increase in modulation efficiency compared to previously reported high-speed modulators. This 2D-3D dielectric integration paves the way to a plethora of electronic and opto-electronic devices with enhanced performance and stability, while expanding the freedom for new device designs. Here, three-dimensional hafnium oxide and two-dimensional hexagonal boron nitride are integrated in the insulating section of double-layer graphene optical modulators, leading to a maximum bandwidth of 39 GHz and enhanced modulation efficiency.

High-performance tunable resonant electro-optical modulator based on suspended graphene waveguides.

Abstract: The exceptional tunable waveguiding characteristics of graphene surface plasmons have remained unrivaled since it has inspired many electro-optical (EO) devices in terahertz (THz) and mid-infrared (MIR) photonic circuits. We propose and numerically investigate a low-loss, highly extinctive resonant EO modulator based on a suspended graphene plasmonic waveguide. Unlike other resonance-based modulators, the input power has negligible interaction with lossy resonance cavity in on-state, remarkably reducing the losses. Achieving the insertion loss (IL) of 1.3 dB and the extinction ratio (ER) of 22 dB within a footprint less than 3 µm2 substantiates the superiority of the proposed structure. The charge transport simulations are first conducted to calculate the steady-state charge distribution. The three-dimensional finite-difference time-domain (3D-FDTD) method is utilized to monitor the guided wave propagation and modulation properties. We show that the transmission spectrum is highly dependent upon geometric parameters of the structure, and the modulator can be effectively tuned to operate at the desired wavelength by applying a suitable gate voltage. Simulation results show the modulation bandwidth of 71 GHz corresponding to the total capacitance of 4.8 fF within the active area. The novel EO modulator structure has shown great potentiality and flexibility to find other applications in MIR and THz integrated circuits like controllable notch filters and switches.

Fast thermo-optical modulators with doped-silicon heaters operating at 2 μm.

Abstract: The 2-μm-waveband has been recognized as a potential telecommunication window for next-generation low-loss, low-latency optical communication. Thermo-optic (TO) modulators and switches, which are essential building blocks in a large-scale integrated photonic circuit, and their performances directly affect the energy consumption and reconfiguration time of an on-chip photonic system. Previous TO modulation based on metallic heaters at 2-μm-waveband suffer from slow response time and high power consumption. In this paper, high-performance thermo-optical Mach-Zehnder interferometer and ring resonator modulators operating at 2-μm-waveband were demonstrated. By embedding a doped silicon (p++-p-p++) junction into the waveguide, our devices reached a record modulation efficiency of 0.17 nm/mW for Mach-Zehnder interferometer based modulator and its rise/fall time was 3.49 μs/3.46 μs which has been the fastest response time reported in a 2-μm-waveband TO devices so far. And a lowest Pπ power of 3.33 mW among reported 2-μm TO devices was achieved for a ring resonator-based modulator.

Inverse-Designed Photonic Crystal Circuits for Optical Beam Steering

Abstract: The ability of photonic crystal waveguides (PCWs) to confine and slow down light makes them an ideal component to enhance the performance of various photonic devices, such as optical modulators or sensors. However, the integration of PCWs in photonic applications poses design challenges, most notably, engineering the PCW mode dispersion and creating efficient coupling devices. Here, we solve these challenges with photonic inverse design, and experimentally demonstrate a slow-light PCW optical phased array (OPA) with a wide steering range. Even and odd mode PCWs are engineered for a group index of 25, over a bandwidth of 20nm and 12nm, respectively. Additionally, for both PCW designs, we create strip waveguide couplers and free-space vertical couplers. Finally, also relying on inverse design, the radiative losses of the PCW are engineered, allowing us to construct OPAs with a 20° steering range in a 20nm bandwidth.

Hybrid InP and SiN integration of an octave-spanning frequency comb

Abstract: Implementing optical-frequency combs with integrated photonics will enable wider use of precision timing signals. Here, we explore the generation of an octave-span, Kerr-microresonator frequency comb using hybrid integration of an InP distributed-feedback laser and a SiN photonic-integrated circuit. We demonstrate electrically pumped and fiber-packaged prototype systems, enabled by self-injection locking. This direct integration of a laser and a microresonator circuit without previously used intervening elements, such as optical modulators and isolators, necessitates understanding self-injection-locking dynamics with octave-span Kerr solitons. In particular, system architectures must adjust to the strong coupling of microresonator backscattering and laser-microresonator frequency detuning that we uncover here. Our work illustrates critical considerations toward realizing a self-referenced frequency comb with integrated photonics.

Materials for emergent silicon-integrated optical computing

Abstract: Progress in computing architectures is approaching a paradigm shift: traditional computing based on digital complementary metal-oxide semiconductor technology is nearing physical limits in terms of miniaturization, speed, and, especially, power consumption. Consequently, alternative approaches are under investigation. One of the most promising is based on a “brain-like” or neuromorphic computation scheme. Another approach is quantum computing using photons. Both of these approaches can be realized using silicon photonics, and at the heart of both technologies is an efficient, ultra-low power broad band optical modulator. As silicon modulators suffer from relatively high power consumption, materials other than silicon itself have to be considered for the modulator. In this Perspective, we present our view on such materials. We focus on oxides showing a strong linear electro-optic effect that can also be integrated with Si, thus capitalizing on new materials to enable the devices and circuit architectures that exploit shifting computational machine learning paradigms, while leveraging current manufacturing infrastructure. This is expected to result in a new generation of computers that consume less power and possess a larger bandwidth.

Demonstration of high-speed thin-film lithium-niobate-on-insulator optical modulators at the 2-µm wavelength

Abstract: Optical communication wavelength is being extended from the near-infrared band of 1.31/1.55 µm to the mid-infrared band of 2 µm or beyond for satisfying the increasing demands for high-capacity long-distance data transmissions. An efficient electro-optic (EO) modulator working at 2 µm is highly desired as one of the indispensable elements for optical systems. Lithium niobate (LiNbO3) with a large second-order nonlinear coefficient is widely used in various EO modulators. Here, we experimentally demonstrate the first Mach-Zehnder EO modulator working at 2 µm based on the emerging thin-film LiNbO3 platform. The demonstrated device exhibits a voltage-length product of 3.67 V·cm and a 3-dB-bandwidth of >22 GHz which is limited by the 18 GHz response bandwidth of the photodetector available in the lab. Open eye-diagrams of the 25 Gb/s on-off keying (OOK) signals modulated by the fabricated Mach-Zehnder EO modulator is also measured experimentally with a SNR of about 14 dB.

Single-step etched grating couplers for silicon nitride loaded lithium niobate on insulator platform

Abstract: Dielectrically loaded thin-film lithium niobate (LiNbO3) on insulator (LNOI) platforms have enabled a range of photonic integrated circuit components, such as high-speed optical modulators, switches, and nonlinear devices, while avoiding the direct etching of the LiNbO3 thin film. Silicon nitride (Si3N4) is one of the most attractive dielectric loading materials as it has a similar refractive index and transparency window to LiNbO3 and can be deposited and patterned by mature fabrication processes. The patterning of Si3N4 opens the opportunity to fabricate grating couplers in the same fabrication step, providing efficient optical interfaces for wafer-scale testing. In this paper, we investigate and demonstrate single-step etched grating couplers on a Si3N4-LNOI (X-cut) platform. The grating couplers (straight and curved) are designed and fabricated for TE-polarized modes along the Y and Z crystallographic directions, considering the LiNbO3 crystal’s birefringence. The experimentally demonstrated coupling losses are as low as 4.02 and 4.24 dB along the crystallographic Y and Z directions, respectively. The corresponding peak wavelengths are 1609 and 1615 nm, respectively. The measured 3-dB bandwidths are wider than 70 nm for both crystallographic directions. We also numerically investigated the influence of fabrication variations and the fiber angle on the transmission. To the best of our knowledge, this work is the first demonstration of grating couplers with different light propagation directions on the Si3N4 loaded LNOI platform.

Nano-electromechanical Tuning of Dual-Mode Resonant Dielectric Metasurfaces for Dynamic Amplitude and Phase Modulation.

Abstract: Planar all-dielectric photonic crystals or metasurfaces host various resonant eigenmodes including leaky guided mode resonances (GMR) and bound states in the continuum (BIC). Engineering these resonant modes can provide new opportunities for diverse applications. Particularly, electrical control of the resonances will boost development of the applications by making them tunable. Here, we experimentally demonstrate nano-electromechanical tuning of both the GMR and the quasi-BIC modes in the telecom wavelength range. With electrostatic forces induced by a few volts, the devices achieve spectral shifts over 5 nm, absolute intensity modulation over 40%, and modulation speed exceeding 10 kHz. We also show that the interference between two resonances enables the enhancement of the phase response when two modes are overlapped in spectrum. A phase shift of 144° is experimentally observed with a bias of 4 V. Our work suggests a direct route toward optical modulators through the engineering of GMRs and quasi-BIC resonances.

Linear Electro-Optic Modulation in Highly Polarizable Organic Perovskites

Abstract: Electrical-to-optical signal conversion is widely employed in information technology and is implemented using on-chip optical modulators. State-of-the-art modulator technologies are incompatible with silicon manufacturing techniques: inorganic nonlinear crystals such as LiNbO3 are integrated with silicon photonic chips only using complex approaches, and hybrid silicon-LiNbO3 optical modulators show either low bandwidth or high operating voltage. Organic perovskites are solution-processed materials readily integrated with silicon photonics; and organic molecules embedded within the perovskite scaffold allow in principle for high polarizability. However, it is found that the large molecules required for high polarizability also require an increase of the size of the perovskite cavity: specifically, using the highly polarizable DR2+ (R = H, F, Cl) in the A site necessitates the exploration of new X-site options. Only by introducing BF4- as the X-site molecule is it possible to synthesize (DCl)(NH4 )(BF4 )3 , a material exhibiting a linear EO coefficient of 20 pm V-1 , which is 10 times higher than that of metal halide perovskites and is a 1.5 fold enhancement compared to reported organic perovskites. The EO response of the organic perovskite approaches that of LiNbO3 (reff ≈ 30 pm V-1 ) and highlights the promise of rationally designed organic perovskites for use in efficient EO modulators.

Probabilistically Shaped 4-PAM for Short-Reach IM/DD Links With a Peak Power Constraint

Abstract: Probabilistic shaping for intensity modulation and direct detection (IM/DD) links is discussed and a peak power constraint determined by the limited modulation extinction ratio (ER) of optical modulators is introduced. The input distribution of 4-ary unipolar pulse amplitude modulation (PAM) symbols is optimized for short-reach transmission links without optical amplification nor in-line dispersion compensation. The resulting distribution is symmetric around its mean allowing to use probabilistic amplitude shaping (PAS) to generate symbols that are protected by forward error correction (FEC) and that have the optimal input distribution. The numerical analysis is confirmed experimentally for both an additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) channel and a fiber channel, showing gains in transmission reach and transmission rate, as well as rate adaptability.

Hybrid InP and SiN integration of an octave-spanning frequency comb

Abstract: Implementing optical-frequency combs with integrated photonics will enable wider use of precision timing signalsHere, we explore the generation of an octave-span, Kerr-microresonator frequency comb, using hybrid integration ofan InP distributed-feedback laser and a SiN photonic-integrated circuit We demonstrate electrically pumped and fiber-packaged prototype systems, enabled by self-injection locking This direct integration of a laser and a microresonatorcircuit without previously used intervening elements, like optical modulators and isolators, necessitates understand-ing self-injection-locking dynamics with octave-span Kerr solitons In particular, system architectures must adjust tothe strong coupling of microresonator back-scattering and laser-microresonator frequency detuning that we uncoverhere Our work illustrates critical considerations towards realizing a self-referenced frequency comb with integratedphotonics

A hydrazone organic optical modulator with a π electronic system for ultrafast photonics

Abstract: Hydrazone organic compounds with a strong conjugation effect have superior characteristics, such as high nonlinear optical sensitivity, short response times, a unique electronic spectrum, and photothermal stability. The conjugated structure of hydrazone compounds leads to its strong dispersion and molecular polarization, and its strong dispersion affects the mutual interference of dispersion wave radiation in a fiber. However, the application of π electron conjugated structures in ultrafast photonics has not been fully studied. Here, nonlinear optical modulation is demonstrated via preparing a set of hydrazone compounds for a mode-locking laser. We applied Hydrazone-1 to an erbium-doped fiber laser, and a 922 fs traditional soliton mode-locked pulse was obtained. Under these conditions, we systematically explained the complex spectral sidebands in which valley sidebands and peak sidebands coexist. Furthermore, a pulse of five bound-state soliton molecules was obtained for the first time. The experiments have proved that hydrazone organic compounds have strong optical properties, which could promote their development as ultrashort pulse light sources upon further research and exploration.

Phase change material-based nano-cavity as an efficient optical modulator

Abstract: Structural phase transition induced by temperature or voltage in phase change materials has been used for many tunable photonic applications. Exploiting reversible and sub-ns fast switching in antimony trisulfide (Sb2S3) from amorphous (Amp) to crystalline (Cry), we introduced a reflection modulator based on metal-dielectric-metal structure. The proposed design exhibits tunable, perfect, and multi-band absorption from visible to the near-infrared region. The reflection response of the system shows >99% absorption of light at normal incidence. The maximum achievable modulation efficiency with a narrow line width is ∼98%. Interestingly, the designed cavity supports critical resonance in an ultrathin (∼λ/15) Sb2S3 film with perfect, broadband, and tunable absorption. Finally, we proposed a novel hybrid cavity design formed of Cry and Amp Sb2S3 thin films side-by-side to realize an optical modulator via relative motion between the incident light beam and cavity. The proposed lithographic free structure can be also used for filtering, optical switching, ultrathin photo-detection, solar energy harvesting, and other energy applications.

Broadband integrated optical modulators: achievements and prospects

Abstract: Broadband integrated optical modulators are key elements of modern optical information systems. The three main technological material platforms for their manufacture are considered: lithium niobate, III–V semiconductors, and silicon. Progress achieved in the development of integrated optical modulators is analyzed, and the main parameters of modulators obtained for various materials are compared with requirements for practical applications. Directions in the further development of the technology of modulators related to new problems in optical information systems are discussed.

Folded Heterogeneous Silicon and Lithium Niobate Mach-Zehnder Modulators with Low Drive Voltage.

Abstract: Optical modulators were, are, and will continue to be the underpinning devices for optical transceivers at all levels of the optical networks. Recently, heterogeneously integrated silicon and lithium niobate (Si/LN) optical modulators have demonstrated attractive overall performance in terms of optical loss, drive voltage, and modulation bandwidth. However, due to the moderate Pockels coefficient of lithium niobate, the device length of the Si/LN modulator is still relatively long for low-drive-voltage operation. Here, we report a folded Si/LN Mach–Zehnder modulator consisting of meandering optical waveguides and meandering microwave transmission lines, whose device length is approximately two-fifths of the unfolded counterpart while maintaining the overall performance. The present devices feature a low half-wave voltage of 1.24 V, support data rates up to 128 gigabits per second, and show a device length of less than 9 mm.

Electrically tunable absorber based on a graphene integrated lithium niobate resonant metasurface

Abstract: Perfect absorbers are of great importance in various applications such as photodetectors, optical sensors and optical modulators. Recently, perfect absorption metasurface based on monolayer graphene has attracted lots of research interest. In this paper, a graphene-lithium niobate (LN) perfect absorption metasurface is constructed, where graphene works as a thin absorptive layer as well as a conductive electrode. The proposed device achieves 99.99% absorption at 798.42 nm and 1.14 nm redshift of the absorption peak is realized at 300 V(from -150 V to 150 V) external bias voltage through the electro-optical effect of LN, which enables the proposed device work as a electrically tunable absorber in the visible and near infrared range. The switching ratio of reflected light R/R0 could reach -44.08 dB with an applied voltage tuning from -150 V to 0 V at 798.42 nm. Our work demonstrates the potential of LN integrated high-Q resonant metasurface in realizing electro-optic tunable nanophotonic devices in the visible and near infrared band. It will promote the research of graphene integrated optoelectronic devices as well as LN based tunable nanophotonic devices which have widespread applications such as modulators and optical phase arrays.

Tunable dual-band and high-quality-factor perfect absorption based on VO2-assisted metasurfaces.

Abstract: Perfect absorbers with high quality factors (Q-factors) are of great practical significance for optical filtering and sensing. Moreover, tunable multiwavelength absorbers provide a multitude of possibilities for realizing multispectral light intensity manipulation and optical switches. In this study, we demonstrate the use of vanadium dioxide (VO2)-assisted metasurfaces for tunable dual-band and high-quality-factor perfect absorption in the mid-infrared region. In addition, we discuss the potential applications of these metasurfaces in reflective intensity manipulation and optical switching. The Q-factors of the dual-band perfect absorption in the proposed metasurfaces are greater than 1000, which can be attributed to the low radiative loss induced by the guided-mode resonances and low intrinsic loss from the constituent materials. By utilizing the insulator–metal transition in VO2, we further proved that a continuous tuning of the reflectance with a large modulation depth (31.8 dB) can be realized in the designed metasurface accompanied by a dual-channel switching effect. The proposed VO2-assisted metasurfaces have potential applications in dynamic and multifunctional optical devices, such as tunable multiband filters, mid-infrared biochemical sensors, optical switches, and optical modulators.

Integrated thin film lithium niobate Fabry–Perot modulator [Invited]

Abstract: Integrated traveling-wave lithium niobate modulators need relatively large device lengths to achieve low drive voltage. To increase modulation efficiency within a compact footprint, we report an integrated Fabry–Perot-type electro-optic thin film lithium niobate on insulator modulator comprising a phase modulation region sandwiched between two distributed Bragg reflectors. The device exhibits low optical loss and a high tuning efficiency of 15.7 pm/V. We also confirm the modulator’s high-speed modulation performance by non-return-to-zero modulation with a data rate up to 56 Gbit/s.

Optical Modulation via Guided-Mode Resonance in an ITO-Loaded Distributed Bragg Reflector Topped With a Two-Dimensional Grating

Abstract: We are reporting the design procedure for a narrow-band ultra-low-power reflective optical modulator that operates at the critical coupling of an appropriately designed two-dimensional grating with the center frequency of a quarter wavelength distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) By sandwiching a three-layer stack of gated ITO/HfO2/ITO between the DBR and the grating, we can make the optical modulator operational, taking advantage of the tunable property of the ultrathin layer at the ITO/HfO2 interface accumulated by electrons under an ultra-low applied voltage (−01 V) The corresponding energy consumption is ∼55 fJ/bit Moreover, our simulations show that the capacitance limited modulation speed is more than 80 Mbps Our numerical results also predict the influence of possible fabrication errors on the guided-mode resonance wavelength This investigation shows that a ±3 nm deviation in the grating pitch affects the modulator performance profoundly Furthermore, the numerical results demonstrate the modulation depth of ∼24 dB is achievable for an appropriately designed modulator with an acceptable insertion loss of ∼005 dB This paper paves the way for developing next-generation optical modulators with high modulation depth, low insertion loss, and ultra-low energy consumption

High-Speed Modulator With Integrated Termination Resistor Based on Hybrid Silicon and Lithium Niobate Platform

Abstract: Hybrid Silicon and Lithium Niobate photonic integration platform has emerged as a promising candidate to combine the scalability of silicon photonic with the high modulation performance of Lithium Niobate. Here, we report a hybrid Silicon and Lithium Niobate Mach–Zehnder modulator integrated with a thermal-optical bias controller and an on-chip RF terminator. The device demonstrates high electro-optical bandwidth of up to 60 GHz, low half-wave voltage of 2.25 V, and low optical on-chip loss of 2 dB, DC biasing half-wave voltage of 1.93 V (or biasing power of 23.77 mW), with reliable and stable biasing characteristics. On-off keying modulation up to 100 Gbit/s and four-level pulse amplitude modulation up to 120 Gbit/s has been demonstrated with excellent performance. The scheme, with its low modulation voltage, low biasing power consumption, low optical insertion loss, large bandwidth, and its flexibility and simplicity of designing, packaging, and testing, can provide an excellent platform on which future high performance complex optical modulators can be developed.

Scalable graphene electro–optical modulators for all-fibre pulsed lasers

Abstract: Recently, graphene electro–optical modulators have emerged as a viable alternative to the conventional modulators due to their broadband operation, ultrafast responsivity, small footprint, and low energy consumption. Here, we report scalable graphene electro–optical modulators for all-fibre pulsed laser applications. An actively Q-switched all-fibre laser is demonstrated with a scalable graphene electro–optical modulator for the first time, which is different from the previously reported work that typically implemented graphene electro–optical modulators in a free-space optical system. Our electrically modulated actively Q-switched fibre laser outputs at the centre wavelength of ∼1961.9 nm, the tunable repetition rate of 56.5 to 62.5 kHz, the maximum pulse energy of ∼80 nJ, and the signal-to-noise ratio of ∼46.6 dB. This work demonstrates that the scalable all-fibre integrated graphene electro–optical modulator approach is promising for producing pulsed fibre lasers at 2 μm with high performance and easy integration which are useful in various applications such as medical treatment, material processing, and spectroscopy.

A Wide-Angle, Enhanced Oblique Incidence, Bend-Able Metamaterial Absorber Employed in Visible Region With a Sun Shape Resonator

Abstract: Solar spectrum is supposed to be a key source of renewable energy in the form of electromagnetic (EM) radiation. For efficiently harnessing this abundant energy, Metamaterial Absorber (MMA) emerges as a game-changing tool. Along with solar energy harvesting, MMA can be used in biochemical sensors, optical modulators, magnetic resonance imaging, photoelectric detectors, plasmonic sensors, etc. In this paper, a sun shape resonator-based MMA is designed with three layers of materials (W-SiO2-W) and analysed for broadband absorption encompassing the entire visible region (390-760nm). The unit cell that is presented in this study is polarization-insensitive and ultrathin with an average absorption of 96.43% with an optimum peak of 99.99% at 523.22nm. The proposed MMA exhibits satisfactory absorption under various oblique angles. The effect of mechanical loading is also investigated and the MMA is found to hold good broadband absorbance for some extents of mechanical bending. Finite Integration Technique (FIT) is used to numerically simulate the proposed MMA unit cell structure and validated with the Finite Element Method (FEM). The suggested MMA in this paper can be used in many optical applications like efficient nano solar cells, imaging applications, sensors, light detectors, biochemical applications, etc.

Design Optimization of Silicon and Lithium Niobate Hybrid Integrated Traveling-Wave Mach-Zehnder Modulator

Abstract: Lithium niobate, dueto its strong electro-optic effect, is an excellent material for high-performance optical modulators. Hybrid integration of thin film lithium niobate and silicon photonic circuits makes it possible to fully exploit potentials of the two material systems. In this paper, we introduce a detailed design procedure for silicon and lithium niobate hybrid integrated modulator using coplanar line electrodes based on Mach-Zehnder interferometer push-pull configuration. A multiphysics model for the crossing section of the modulation section is proposed and analyzed. The results show that optimizing solely the $V_{\pi } L$ product would not lead to the best 3-dB bandwidth for a certain half-wave voltage due to the increased microwave losses. There exists an optimal ground-signal electrode gap value, which is about 8–9 ${\,\mu m}$ for the present modulator structure. For these optimized structures, 3-dB bandwidths can reach 45 GHz and 137 GHz with half-wave voltages of 2 V and 4 V, respectively, for a lithium niobate waveguide total thickness of 600 nm and a ridge height of 200 nm.

Si racetrack optical modulator based on the III-V/Si hybrid MOS capacitor.

Abstract: We have fabricated a Si racetrack optical modulator based on a III–V/Si hybrid metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) capacitor. The III–V/Si hybrid MOS optical phase shifter was integrated to a Si racetrack resonator with a coupling length of 200 µm and a coupling gap of 700 nm. The fabricated Si racetrack resonator demonstrated a small VπL of 0.059 Vcm. For 10-dB optical intensity modulation, the Si racetrack resonator showed a 60% smaller driving voltage than a Mach–Zehnder interferometer modulator with the same phase shifter, leading to a better balance between high energy efficiency and large modulation bandwidth.