Optical modulator

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

Optics for low-energy communication inside digital processors: quantum detectors, sources, and modulators as efficient impedance converters

Abstract: I argue that optics can reduce the energy for irreversible communication of logic-level signals inside digital switching and processing machines. This is because quantum detectors, quantum sources, and modulators can perform an effective impedance transformation that matches the high impedances of small devices to the low impedances encountered in electromagnetic propagation. Current physics and device concepts are sufficient to realize this advantage over electrical communications given appropriate integration technology. This energy argument suggests that all except the shortest intrachip communications should be optical.

Microwave-optical mixing in LiNbO/sub 3/ modulators

Abstract: An investigation study of microwave-optical mixing in different configurations of LiNbO/sub 3/ Mach-Zehnder interferometric modulators is presented. In each case, models that describe mixer performance are developed and are shown to be in good agreement with measurements. For antenna remoting applications, a technique to down-convert RF signals is demonstrated by cascading in series a pair of Mach-Zehnder interferometric modulators. In general, it is shown that by virtue of their truly broadband characteristics, interferometric modulators can also by employed as microwave mixers at frequencies up to 40 GHz. >

Generation of nondiffracting Bessel beams by use of a spatial light modulator

Abstract: A laser beam with phase singularities is an interesting object to study in optics and may have important applications in guiding atoms and molecules. We explore the characteristics of a singularity in a nondiffracting Bessel beam experimentally by use of a programmable spatial light modulator with 64-level phase holograms. The diffraction efficiency with 64-level phase holograms is greatly improved in comparison with that obtained with a binary grating. The experiments show that the size and deflection angle of the beam can be controlled in real time. The observations are in agreement with scalar diffraction theory.

A new reflective FPD technology using interferometric modulation

Abstract: The Interferometric Modulator (IMod) is a micromachined, deformable optical cavity whose reflected color changes with the application of a voltage. Exhibiting switching speeds >50 kHz and prominent hysteresis, these devices show much promise as the basis for video-rate full-color reflective FPDs. Their development status will be presented.

Hybrid silicon and lithium niobate electro-optical ring modulator

Abstract: Of all oxides, lithium niobate (LiNbO3) is the gold standard electro-optical material in fiber-optic transmission systems. Modulators based on diffused waveguides in bulk LiNbO3 substrates are, however, relatively large. In contrast, ring modulators based on silicon-on-insulator are of interest for chip-scale electro-optical modulation, but unstrained crystalline silicon does not exhibit a linear electro-optic effect, so modulation is based on alternative mechanisms such as the plasma dispersion effect. Here, we present a hybrid silicon and LiNbO3 electro-optical ring modulator operating at gigahertz frequencies. The modulator consists of a 15 μm radius silicon microring and an ion-sliced LiNbO3 thin film bonded together via benzocyclobutene. Fabricated devices operating in the TE optical mode exhibit an optical loaded quality factor of 14,000 and a resonance tuning of 3.3 pm/V. The small-signal electrical-to-optical 3 dB bandwidth is measured to be 5 GHz. Digital modulation with an extinction ratio greater than 3 dB is demonstrated up to 9 Gb/s. High-speed and low-tuning-power chip-scale modulators that exploit the high-index contrast of silicon with the second-order susceptibility of LiNbO3 are envisioned.