High-speed InGaAlAs/InAlAs multiple quantum well optical modulators

High-speed modulation over 22 GHz for waveguided InGaAlAs/InAlAs multiple quantum well (MQW) optical modulators is described. A large on/off ratio of over 25 dB is demonstrated with a low-drive voltage (6 V) operating in the 1.55-μm wavelength region. The design and characteristics of MQW p-i-n modulators are discussed. The causes of large-insertion loss and the required drive voltage bandwidth figure of merit for the MQW modulator are discussed. The frequency response measurements show that the response speed is limited by the RC time constant of the device. This suggests that the speed can be further enhanced by decreasing the size and capacitance of the device     

High speed III-V electrooptic waveguide modulators at λ-1.3μm

Traveling wave GaAs electrooptic waveguide modulators at a wavelength of 1.3 μm with bandwidth in excess of 20 GHz have been developed and characterized. The design and characteristics of both p-i-n modulators in microstrip configuration and Schottky barrier on n ^--GaAs/semi-insulating (SI) GaAs in the coplanar strip configuration modulators are discussed. It is shown that microwave loss and slowing on n⁺ GaAs substrates will limit the bandwidth of the microstrip modulator to less than 10 GHz for a device 8 mm in length. Modulators with bandwidths in excess of 10 GHz are fabricated on SI GaAs substrates     

Low-loss 1.3-μm MQW electroabsorption modulators forhigh-linearity analog optical links

Low-loss InAsP-GaInP multiquantum-well electroabsorption waveguide modulators have been developed for transmitting microwaves as subcarriers over optical fibers. The fiber-to-fiber insertion loss is only 5 dB at 1.32-μm wavelength. The electrooptic slope efficiency of an 185-μm-long 11-GHz bandwidth device is equivalent to a Mach-Zehnder modulator with a V_π of 2.2 V. The linearity performance was characterized for a test link without any form of amplification. A RF-to-RF link efficiency of -25.5 dB, noise figure of 27 dB and suboctave spurious-free dynamic range of 114 dB.Hz^4/5 have been achieved with 16 mW input optical carrier power. The measured 3-dB electrical bandwidth exceeds 20 GHz for a 90-μm-long device     

（英）D波段InP基高增益、低噪声放大芯片的设计与实现

利用90-nm InAlAs/InGaAs/InP HEMT工艺设计实现了两款D波段（110~170 GHz）单片微波集成电路放大器。两款放大器均采用共源结构,布线选取微带线。基于器件A设计的三级放大器A在片测试结果表明：最大小信号增益为11.2 dB@140 GHz,3 dB带宽为16 GHz,芯片面积2.6×1.2 mm2。基于器件B设计的两级放大器B在片测试结果表明：最大小信号增益为15.8 dB@139 GHz,3dB带宽12 GHz,在130~150 GHz频带范围内增益大于10 dB,芯片面积1.7×0.8 mm2,带内最小噪声为4.4 dB、相关增益15 dB@141 GHz,平均噪声系数约为5.2 dB。放大器B具有高的单级增益、相对高的增益面积比以及较好的噪声系数。该放大器芯片的设计实现对于构建D波段接收前端具有借鉴意义。     

Technique for velocity-matched traveling-wave electroopticmodulator in AlGaAs/GaAs

A design for a velocity-matched traveling-wave directional-coupler intensity modulator in AlGaAs/GaAs is proposed. The structure utilizes a thin coating of Ta₂O₅ on the top of the modulator/electrode structure in order to achieve velocity matching between the optical wave and microwave signal. The film does not significantly affect the optical properties or voltage requirements of the modulator. The optical and RF characteristics of the modulator are analyzed using the effective-index and finite-difference methods. The optical bandwidth is calculated numerically, taking into account both the anticipated velocity mismatches due to fabrication tolerances and the calculated frequency-dependent microwave losses. The predicted small-signal bandwidth of a 3 mm long direction coupler biased at a null point is greater than 45 GHz, and exceeds 100 GHz (~50 GHz electrical bandwidth) when the coupler is biased in the linear region. This device is designed to operate at 830 nm with a maximum modulation voltage of 5 V. The figure of merit of the proposed device is therefore at least 10 GHz/V when an electrical bandwidth of 50 GHz is used     

InP-InGaAsP high-speed traveling-wave electroabsorption modulatorswith integrated termination resistors

Traveling-wave electroabsorption modulators for operation at 1.55 μm have been designed and fabricated. Devices of different lengths were characterized. Modulators with integrated termination resistors showed wide modulation bandwidths and excellent bandwidth-length products. A bandwidth of 43 GHz was measured for a 450-μm-long device, which corresponds to a 19.3-GHz·mm bandwidth length product. For a device length of 250 μm, a bandwidth of 67 GHz is extrapolated from measurements up to 45 GHz     

Full polarization insensitivity of a 20 Gb/s strained-MQWelectroabsorption modulator

We report on a MQW electroabsorption modulator with tensile-strained wells. The device transmission is shown to be fully polarization insensitive, i.e. both in amplitude and phase. The modulation efficiency is over 20 GHz/V (bandwidth higher than 20 GHz and 1 V drive voltage) which is the highest figure of merit reported for any kind of polarization insensitive modulator. Full polarization independence is further demonstrated by 2.5 Gb/s transmission at 1.55 μm over 475 km of standard fiber without penalty at 10^-9 BER whatever the polarization     

Guide lines for the selection of acoustooptic materials

Guide lines are presented for the selection of promising new acoustooptic materials for device applications. Previously, the selection of materials was based primarily on availability and intuition. Now it is possible to estimate an approximate acousto-optic figure of merit for a material knowing only its chemical composition and density. One of the first applications of these guide lines led to a detailed evaluation of lead molybdate, PbMoO4, a material known to have certain desirable physical properties. The results verified that PbMoO4has a high figure of merit, considerably greater than LiNbO3though somewhat less than α-HIO3. In addition to a high figure of merit, a material must also have a low acoustic loss if it is to be useful for device applications. The relationship between the acoustooptic figure of merit and acoustic loss is explored. Although only limited loss data are presently available, it is concluded that a high figure of merit and low loss are compatible material properties for applications below approximately 0.5 GHz. However, as future applications call for higher frequency operation, it appears that a tradeoff between low acoustic loss and high figure of merit will be required.     

A new high performance phase shifter using BaxSr1-xTiO3 thin films

In this paper, a new device topology has been proposed to implement parallel plate capacitors using Ba_xSr_1-xTiO₃ (BST) thin films. The device layout utilizes a single parallel capacitor and minimizes conductor losses in the base electrode. The new design simplifies the monolithic process and overcomes the problems associated with electrode patterning. An X-band 180° phase shifter has been implemented using the new device design. The circuit provided 240° phase shift with an insertion loss of only 3 dB at 10 GHz at room temperature. We have shown a figure of merit 93°/dB at 6.3 GHz and 87°/dB at 8.5 GHz. To our knowledge, these are the best figure of merit results reported in the literature for distributed phase shifters implemented using BST films at room temperature     

High-speed InGaAlAs/InAlAs multiple quantum well electrooptic phasemodulators with bandwidth in excess of 20 GHz

High-speed phase modulation (in the frequency bandwidth of 20 GHz, the highest yet reported for multiple quantum well (MQW) phase modulators) for waveguided InGaAlAs/InAlAs MQW optical modulators is reported. The modulator successfully operates at a long wavelength of 1-55 μm with a low required voltage for phase shift (Vπ=3.8 V), small intensity modulation depth below 1.5 dB, and without any modulation bandwidth degradation up to 20 GHz under high input optical power of 0 dBm in single-mode fiber     

Polymer micro-ring filters and modulators

Micro-ring wavelength filters and resonant modulators using polymer materials at 1300 nm and 1550 nm are analyzed, designed, and demonstrated. The rings are integrated with vertically coupled input and output waveguides. The devices are fabricated using optical lithography. Filters with a finesse of 141 and free spectral range of 5 nm at 1300 nm and finesse of 117 with a free spectral range (FSR) of 8 nm at 1550 nm are demonstrated. Ring resonators with a Q as high as 1.3 /spl times/ 10/sup 5/ at 1300 nm are demonstrated. The filters can be temperature tuned at the rate of 14 GHz//spl deg/C. Resonant ring modulators, which use an electrooptic polymer, are demonstrated. The resonance wavelength voltage tunes at the rate of 0.82 GHz/V. The modulators have a bandwidth larger than 2 GHz. Using the resonant modulator, and open eye diagram at 1 Gb/s is demonstrated.     

K-band operation of asymmetric Fabry-Perot modulators

The authors report preliminary high-frequency, small-signal optical measurements of asymmetric multiple-quantum well (MQW) Fabry-Perot electrooptic modulators which indicate that the electrical bandwidth for these devices is about 15 GHz at the onset of saturation, and as high as 21 GHz at low optical intensity-higher than any other measurements published to date. The modulators, 30 μm×30 μm in size, are integrated with on-chip microwave probe pads. The authors detail the fabrication process developed to achieve these high operating frequencies and predict from device models the maximum RC-limited operating frequencies for these devices     

GaAs-GaAlAs heterostructure single-mode channel-waveguide cutoff modulator and modulator array

A GaAs single-mode channel-waveguide cutoff modulator that utilizes a GaAs-GaAlAs heterostructure and a linear array of such modulators are reported for the first time. We have measured a cutoff voltage as low as 9.0 V and an extinction ratio greater than 20 dB at an optical wavelength of 1.3 μm in a basic modulator that utilized a GaAs-Ga0.93Al0.07As heterostructure with a 0.9 μm thick GaAs epitaxial layer together with a ridge channel 2.5 mm in length and 5.0 μm in width. We have also succeeded in the realization of a high packing density (500 channels/cm) linear array of such cutoff modulators in the same GaAs substrate with equally satisfactory results. An RF bandwidth of 2.5 GHz has also been measured with the elementary modulator of such array. As in the case for LiNbO3substrates, the GaAs-based integrated optic modules that result from integration of such cutoff modulator arrays, microlens arrays, and planar acoustooptic or electrooptic Bragg diffraction grating arrays in a common substrate may be used to perform multiport switching, computing, and RF signal processing.     

Ultra-high-speed multiple-quantum-well electro-absorption opticalmodulators with integrated waveguides

Integrating the input and output waveguides with a multiple-quantum-well (MQW) electro-absorption (EA) optical modulator is shown to achieve ultra-high-speed modulation while keeping the total device length long enough for easy fabrication and packaging. Testing with fabricated modulators showed that a shorter modulation region results in a larger modulation bandwidth. The additional loss due to the waveguide integration was less than 1 dB. An optimized modulator showed a large modulation bandwidth of 50 GHz, a low driving voltage of less than 3 V, and a low insertion loss of 8 dB. A prototype module of this modulator had a bandwidth of greater than 40 GHz. Optimizing the MQW structure makes the modulator insensitive to polarization. These results demonstrate that MQW-EA modulators with integrated waveguides are advantageous in terms of fabrication, packaging, and ultra-high-speed modulation     

Edge-coupled InGaAs p-i-n photodiode with the pseudowindow definedby an etching process

We have fabricated an edge-coupled InGaAs p-i-n photodiode (EC-PD) with its pseudowindow defined by conventional photolithographic processes and its facet formed by etching. Through fine tuning the window thickness, the transit-time-limited bandwidth was largely increased and device bandwidth was improved from ~8 GHz toward ~20 GHz. Such a tuning process is in fact a controlled selective chemical etching process, and optimizes the window thickness through reducing the thickness of undepleted absorption region. Although after tuning, the device preserves low leakage, the anisotropic chemical etching results in a sloped and reentrant facet that degrades the optical coupling efficiency and thus the device responsivity, which drops from 0.5 to 0.4 A/W at 1.3-μm wavelength for a device without an anti-reflection coating. For the EC-PD with the optical input facet formed by etching instead of the cleavage process, the device yield can be improved and direct die separation is feasible, which amounts to a huge cost reduction. Furthermore, an edge-coupled photodiode array, which requires several reliable diodes in series, can be realized     

The transverse electrooptic modulator (TEOM): fabrication,properties, and applications in the assessment of waveguide electroopticcharacteristics

The fabrication of a novel electrooptic modulator with a transverse electrode geometry, formed by parallel electrodes on opposite faces of a thinned lithium niobate substrate straddling a strip waveguide, is reported. The device, referred to as a transverse electrooptic modulator (TEOM), has several advantages over standard electrooptic waveguide modulators using a coplanar electrode geometry. It is shown that it is possible to achieve a 30% reduction in the operating voltage for a given electrode spacing and a substantial reduction in the figure of merit, the power required per unit bandwidth, for electrooptic modulators with either lumped or traveling wave electrode structures. Moreover, a more accurate estimate of the electrooptic coefficients is possible than with modulators using strip waveguides and coplanar electrodes     

Characterization of the chirp and intensity modulation propertiesof an SOA-MZI wavelength converter

Wavelength converters based on cross-phase modulation in semiconductor optical amplifiers (SOAs) in the arms of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) provide a key network element for reconfigurable optical networks that incorporate wavelength routing. For system design purposes, the properties of the intensity and phase (chirp) modulation of the wavelength-converted signal for an SOA-MZI wavelength converter are important. In this paper, the small-signal α parameter, which characterizes the converter chirp, and the conversion frequency response are characterized experimentally for an integrated all-active SOA-MZI wavelength converter. For both co- and counterpropagating signals, the variation of the a parameter along the interference and conversion curves is considered in detail. Three optical modulators with quite different chirp properties are used to generate the modulated input signal to the wavelength converter. The results demonstrate that the chirp of the wavelength-converted signal is primarily determined by the device properties and the intensity of the modulated input signal. The a parameter of the wavelength-converted signal is negative for noninverting operation and positive for inverting operation. An important contribution of the paper is the detailed assessment of this key device characteristic. The experimental characterization of the wavelength converter is incorporated into a device model that can be used to obtain the pulse response. Calculated and measured results for the time dependence of the intensity and chirp of the wavelength-converted signal are in good agreement. The conversion frequency response for the intensity modulation is also measured along the conversion curve. The 3-dB bandwidth is found to be generally about 8-10 GHz     

Tunable dual-mode operation in a chirped gratingdistributed-feedback laser

We report on the tunable dual-mode operation of a chirped grating distributed-feedback (DFB) laser device with two integrated modulators which act as tuning sections. A transfer-matrix model is used to simulate the amplified spontaneous emission spectrum for a chirped grating DFB laser. Several types of dual-mode operation are observed for wavelength spacings of 0.5 nm and 1.4 nm corresponding to frequency detunings of 63 GHz and 175 GHz     

Linear 0.20 GHz modulation with a 1×2 directional coupler

The design and performance of a traveling-wave 1×2 directional coupler modulator are described. A 0-20 GHz response (-4 dB _e) was achieved for Ti:LiNbO₃ devices at the 1.3-μm wavelength. From experimental determinations of coupling coefficient and interarm intrinsic phase-mismatch for several modulators, linear dynamic ranges of, on average, 78 dB and voltage sensitivities of down to 9 μV are determined (for 1-mW detector power, 3-kHz bandwidth, 50-Ω detector load). The dependence of sensitivity on the coupling coefficient is described, and the effect of the buffer layer thickness on the optical bandwidth and sensitivity is demonstrated     

110-GHz, 50%-efficiency mushroom-mesa waveguide p-i-n photodiodefor a 1.55-μm wavelength

A mushroom-mesa structure is proposed to reduce the CR-time constant which originates from the waveguide photodiode structure. Experimental results at a 1.55-μm wavelength show that the multimode waveguide p-i-n photodiode with mushroom-mesa structure has an electrical 3-dB bandwidth of more than 75 GHz in the frequency domain and an electrical 3-dB bandwidth of 110 GHz in the time domain. The external quantum efficiency is 50% or 0.63 A/W, which leads to a record bandwidth-efficiency product of 55 GHz for long wavelength p-i-n photodetectors