Optical modulator

About: Optical modulator is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 14068 publications have been published within this topic receiving 196932 citations.

Direct view display based on a micromechanical modulation

Abstract: A direct-view display comprising an array of micro-mechanical modulators is disclosed, he modulator used to form the display comprises a suspended, vertically moving membrane and a substrate. The device functions based on optical interference effects between the membrane and the substrate which cause the modulator to either substantially reflect or absorb an optical signal. The interference effects are a function of the size of the air gap between the membrane and substrate, which varies as the membrane moves. The membrane moves in response to a data signal, representative of an image, delivered to the modulator. The display generates an image based on the pattern of light and dark sections of the display corresponding to the reflectivity of each modulator at a given point in time.

Multiple quantum well (MQW) waveguide modulators

Abstract: Because the electroabsorption effect in semiconductor multiple quantum well material is approximately 50 times larger than in bulk semiconductors, significant interest has been generated in the use of MQW's in optical modulators Small high-speed devices have been made which show promise for external modulators in optical transmission systems, as well as for encoding and processing components in optical interconnect and signal processing systems The fact that these modulators are made from III-V semiconductors had led to interest in integration of these components with other active optoelectronic components Although most devices have operated with light of a wavelength of 085 mu m, recently much progress has been made in applying this technology to devices operating near 155 mu m The author reviews the work of the last few years in this field and indicates some future directions >

Optical I/O technology for tera-scale computing

Abstract: This paper describes both a near term and a long term optical interconnect solution, the first based on a packaging architecture and the second based on a monolithic photonic CMOS architecture. The packaging-based optical I/O architecture implemented with 90 nm CMOS transceiver circuits, 1 × 12 VCSEL/detector arrays and polymer waveguides achieves 10 Gb/s/channel at 11 pJ/b. A simple TX pre-emphasis technique enables a potential 18 Gb/s at 9.6 pJ/b link efficiency. Analysis predicts this architecture to reach less than 1 pJ/b at the 16 nm CMOS technology node. A photonic CMOS process enables higher bandwidth and lower energy-per-bit for chip-to-chip optical I/O through integration of electro-optical polymer based modulators, silicon nitride waveguides and polycrystalline germanium (Ge) detectors into a CMOS logic process. Experimental results for the photonic CMOS ring resonator modulators and Ge detectors demonstrate performance above 20 Gb/s and analysis predicts that photonic CMOS will eventually enable energy efficiency better than 0.3 pJ/b with 16 nm CMOS. Optical interconnect technologies such as these using multi-lane communication or wavelength division multiplexing have the potential to achieve TB/s interconnect and enable platforms suitable for the tera-scale computing era.

Spatial light modulator projection system with random polarity light

Abstract: A visual display system having a spatial light modulator with individually controllable elements. Each element capable of producing an individual light beam directed toward a display surface. A source of random polarity light is utilized to direct light onto the modulator.