High-speed shielded velocity-matched Ti:LiNbO3 opticalmodulator

A shielded velocity-matched Ti:LiNbO₃ optical modulator is investigated, focusing on the characteristics of the traveling-wave (TW) electrode and the optical waveguide. The optical waveguide is analyzed and its parameters are determined using the newly developed modified-step-segment method (MSSM). The TW electrode is analyzed using the second-order triangular element quasi-TEM finite element method (FEM). By taking the thickness of the coplanar waveguide (CPW) traveling-wave (TW) electrode into consideration, it is confirmed that there is an optimum overlaid layer thickness for a given electrode thickness. It is also shown that very wide modulation bandwidth can be attained by using the optimum CPW TW electrode thickness and overlaid layer thickness     

Analysis and Demonstration of Mach–Zehnder Polymer Modulators Using In-Plane Coplanar Waveguide Structure

Analysis, design, and experimental demonstration of polymer Mach-Zehnder (MZ) modulators with a newly proposed in-plane coplanar waveguide (CPW) electrode are presented in this paper. Compared to the conventional CPW electrode, the new in-plane CPW configuration significantly enhances the overlap factor between microwave and optical wave by 40% from the theoretical calculations. Different from polymer modulators using the traditional microstrip electrodes, this structure can suppress dc bias voltage drift and widen modulation bandwidth. Using CLD1/APC and AJL8/APC electrooptic polymers, MZ modulators using the in-plane CPW are fabricated and tested. The measured Vpi's of the MZ with 15-mum gap spacing and 2 cm electrode length are 5.4 and 9.5 V at 1.55 mum for the AJL8/APC and CLD1/APC devices, respectively. The evaluated Upsi₃₃'s are 46 pm/V for the AJL8/APC and 26 pm/V for the CLD1/APC MZ. The dc bias stability is tested and compared for both the microstrip and the in-plane CPW electrode modulators. Experimental results show that the in-plane CPW modulator greatly improves the bias stability. From the microwave measurement, the microwave signal loss of the modulator using the in-plane CPW is much reduced to 0.2 dB/cmradicGHz, while 0.7 dB/cmradicGHz using the microstrip.     

Performance and modeling of broadband LiNbO3 travelingwave optical intensity modulators

The design, fabrication and characterization of a traveling wave Ti:LiNbO₃ Mach-Zehnder interferometric modulator are discussed. The dependence of the velocity match condition on electrode thickness and wall angle is demonstrated experimentally and with finite element calculations. A set of test electrode structures is fabricated to study electrical losses in the modulator electrode. Loss coefficients are assigned to different sections of the device, and dielectric and radiative losses are shown to play an important role at high frequencies. This information is used in conjunction with finite-element calculations to develop accurate models for both the electrical and optical responses. The frequency dependence of the half-wave voltage is measured and shown to be in good agreement with a model     

High-Tc superconducting coplanar waveguidefilter

Coplanar waveguide (CPW) low-pass filters made of YBa₂Cu₃O_7-δ (YBCO) on LaAlO₃ substrates, with dimensions suited for integrated circuits, were fabricated and packaged. A complete filter gives a true idea of the advantages and difficulties in replacing thin-film metal with a high-temperature superconductor in a practical circuit. Measured insertion losses in liquid nitrogen were superior to the loss of a similar thin-film copper filter throughout the 0- to 9.5-GHz passband. These results demonstrate the performance of fully patterned YBCO in a practical CPW structure after sealing in a hermetic package     

Electrode optimization for high-speed traveling-wave integratedoptic modulators

Different electrode configurations for LiNbO₃-based Mach-Zehnder traveling-wave electrooptic modulators are analyzed. It is found that the Z-cut coplanar waveguide (CPW) configuration provides the best compromise between the characteristic impedance, the half-wave voltage, and the driving power. To increase the bandwidth and simultaneously reduce the half-wave voltage, an optimum design of multisection phase reversal electrode is proposed. To verify the theoretical predictions experimentally, two modulators, both using the Z-cut LiNbO₃ CPW configuration, were fabricated and characterized, one with an optimized five-section phase reversal electrode and the other with a conventional single-section electrode. By comparing the performances of these two devices, it is confirmed that significant improvements on the bandwidth to half-wave voltage ratio and the flatness of the frequency response can indeed be obtained from using an optimized multisection phase reversal electrode     

Multiple quantum well optical modulator structures using surfaceacoustic wave induced Stark effect

Multiple-quantum-well (MQW) optical modulator structures using the quantum-confined Stark effect (QCSE) manifested by the application of an electric field induced by a propagating surface acoustic wave (SAW) are proposed. The magnitudes of the parallel E_∥ and perpendicular E_⊥ electric-field components are computed to determine the electroabsorption and change of index of refraction for the AlGaAs-GaAs system. The proposed structures are shown to be less cumbersome than conventional p-i-n configurations used to impress E. In addition, an enhanced performance Bragg modulator/switch which utilizes the QCSE as well as the acoustic phase grating produced by the SAW beam is described     

Novel transition between different configurations of planartransmission lines

New designs of coplanar waveguide (CPW)-microstrip, CPW-stripline, conductor backed CPW (CBCPW)-microstrip, and CBCPW-stripline transitions are presented. Simulation using the high frequency structures simulator (HFSS) shows that the return loss of the CPW-microstrip transition is less than -25 dB up to 11 GHz. Similarly is the CPW-stripline transition. In the case of two back to back CBCPW-stripline transitions, the return loss is less than -22 dB up to 9 GHz. Experimentally, the S ₁₁ of two back to back CBCPW-microstrip transitions on an alumina substrate is less than -15 dB up to 25 GHz     

Fabrication and Characteristics of 40-Gb/s Traveling-Wave Electroabsorption Modulator-Integrated DFB Laser Modules

We have developed 40-Gb/s traveling-wave electroabsorption-modulator-integrated distributed feedback laser (TW-EML) modules using several advanced technologies. First, we have adopted a selective area growth (SAG) method in the fabrication of the 40-Gb/s EML device to provide active layers for the laser and the electroabsorption modulators (EAMs) simultaneously. The fabricated device shows that the measured 3-dB bandwidth of electrical-to-optical (E/O) response reaches about 45 GHz and the return loss (S₁₁) is kept below -10 dB up to 50 GHz. For the module design of the device, we mainly considered electrical and optical factors. The measured S₁₁ of the fabricated 40 Gb/s TW-EML module is below -10 dB up to about 30 GHz and the 3-dB bandwidth of the E/O response reaches over 35 GHz. We also have developed two types of coplanar waveguide (CPW) for the application of the driver amplifier integrated 40 Gb/s TW-EML module, which is a system-on-package (SoP) composed of an EML device and a driver amplifier device in a module. The measured S₁₁ of the two-step-bent CPW is below -10 dB up to 35 GHz and the measured S₁₁ of the parallel type CPW is below -10 dB up to 39 GHz.     

Comparison of high-temperature-superconductor and metal-basedresonators

A 50-Ω coplanar waveguide (CPW) resonator designed for a fundamental frequency of about 4.75 GHz was fabricated on LaAlO₃ . Two versions were fabricated: the first using 1.9-μm-thick gold and the second using 0.6-μm-thick YBa₂Cu₃O ₇. The devices were identically packaged and tested at 77 K. It was found that the high-temperature superconductor (HTS) resonator had a surface resistance, R_s, about six to nine times lower than the Au one. At 45 K, the R_s of the HTS resonator decreases by another factor of 4 compared with its 77 K value. Device characteristics for the HTS resonator are presented     

Effect of parameter variations on the performance of GaAs/AlGaAsmultiple-quantum-well electroabsorption modulators

A theoretical investigation is presented of the dependence of electroabsorption in GaAs/Al_xGa_1-xAs multiple-quantum-well (MQW) structures on the MQW parameters (Al mole fraction x, well thickness L_z barrier thickness L_b and interface quality) and on the applied electric field studied. The on/off ratio of a modulator using MQWs with x=0.45, L_z=75 Å, and L _b=78 Å is predicted to increase by 20% compared to that of a modulator using MQWs with x=0.3, L_z =100 Å, and L_b=100 Å, when the MQW total active region thickness is 1 μm     

Continuous-Time Sigma–Delta Modulator With an Embedded Pulsewidth Modulation

A new Continuous-Time (CT) sigma-delta modulator (SDM) based on the well-known asynchronous SDM is proposed in this paper. To this end, the flash quantizer and the digital-to-analog converter (DAC) in a multibit (MB) CT-SDM clocked at a rate f_max are replaced by a single-bit (SB) comparator with hysteresis clocked at a higher rate f_s and a SB-DAC, respectively. By proper selection of the hysteresis in the comparator and the ratio F = f_s/f_max, the performances of both modulators are shown to be equivalent. The comparator with hysteresis and the loop filter produce, in the modulator output, a limit cycle of frequency /max which is modulated by the input signal. Therefore, the modulator output can be considered to be a pulsewidth (PW) modulated signal with a frequency approximately equal to /max, and the proposed modulator is called a PW-SDM. Despite the high sampling rate of the comparator output, the integrators and the SB-DAC of the proposed modulator have the same speed requirements as those of the equivalent conventional MB-SDM. On the other hand, in the proposed modulator there are not MB (analog-to-digital or digital-to-analog) converters. Therefore, for a given set of specifications, the proposed PW-SDM is expected to consume less power and area than its equivalent conventional MB modulator.     

Maximum dynamic range operation of a microwave external modulationfiber-optic link

We fully analyze the analog performance of an external modulation fiber-optic link. We express relevant figures of merit-including gain, noise figure, third-order intermodulation distortion, AM compression, and dynamic range-in terms of the microwave scattering matrices of the modulator and detector circuits, and we predict the modulator bias condition promoting optimum link performance. Our predictions match the measured gain, noise figure, and dynamic range of an experimental 870-930 MHz external modulation fiber-optic link. Maximum spurious-free dynamic range-77 dB·MHz^2/3 (117 db·Hz^2/3 )-occurs when the modulator is biased at its halfwave voltage, where the optical throughput is nearly pinched off     

3-D CMOS Circuits Based on Low-Loss Vertical Interconnects on Parylene-N

parylene-N is used as a dielectric layer to create ultra low-loss 3-D vertical interconnects and coplanar waveguide (CPW) transmission lines on a CMOS substrate. Insertion loss of 0.013 dB for a 3-D vertical interconnect through a 15-$mu$ m-thick parylene-N layer and 0.56 dB/mm for a 50- $Omega$ CPW line on the parylene-N layer (compared to 1.85 dB/mm on a standard CMOS substrate) are measured at 40 GHz. L-shaped, U-shaped, and T-junction CPW structures are also fabricated with underpasses that eliminate the discontinuities arisen from the slot-line mode and are characterized up to 40 GHz. A 3-D low-noise amplifier using these post-processed structures on a 0.13-$mu$ m CMOS technology is also presented along with the investigation of parasitic effects for accurate simulation of such a 3-D circuit. The 3-D circuit implementation reduces the attenuation per unit length of the transmission lines, while preserving the CMOS chip area (in this specific design) by approximately 25%. The 3-D amplifier measures a gain of 13 dB at 2 GHz with 3-dB bandwidth of 500 MHz, noise figure of 3.3 dB, and output 1-dB compression point of ${+}$ 4.6 dBm. Room-temperature processing, simple fabrication, low-loss performance, and compatibility with the CMOS process make this technology a suitable choice for future 3-D CMOS and BiCMOS monolithic microwave integrated circuit applications that currently suffer from high substrate loss and crosstalk.      

Low-loss on-chip transmission lines with micro-patterned artificial dielectric shields

Low-loss coplanar waveguide (CPW) transmission lines integrated on a standard (5 -10 Omega ldr cm) silicon substrate are realised by using an artificial dielectric shield with a very high in-plane dielectric constant. The shield consists of a 30 nm-thick Al₂O₃ film sandwiched by two 100 nm-thick aluminium layers patterned into lattices of mum-size elements. The individual metallic elements are micro-patterned to suppress the flow of eddy currents at microwave frequencies. Inserted below the CPW, the shield blocks the electric field of the line from entering the silicon substrate. The resulting line attenuation (measured up to 25 GHz) is comparable to that of identical CPWs built on a high-resistivity silicon wafer.     

High-speed MQW electroabsorption optical modulators integrated withlow-loss waveguides

An MQW electro-absorption optical modulator integrated with low-loss input and output waveguides is proposed to achieve larger modulation bandwidth with a shorter modulation region, keeping the total device length large enough for easy fabrication and packaging. A fabricated 1-mm-long modulator with a modulation-region length of 50 μm shows a low insertion loss (7 dB), low driving voltage (V_{10 dB}=2.6 V), and large modulation bandwidth f_{3 dB} =40 (GHz) extrapolated from measurements up to 20 GHz. This modulator is suitable for application to ultra-high-speed fiber transmission systems     

Microwave properties of traveling-wave electrodes in LiNbO3 electrooptic modulators

The microwave characteristics of a traveling-wave electrode in electrooptic modulators on z-cut LiNbO₃ crystals with buffer layers with various dielectric constants are calculated by a quasi-TEM analysis. The theoretical results are compared with the measured results on z-cut crystals for coplanar waveguide (CPW) electrodes. The agreement between the calculated and the measured results is good     

Optical intensity modulator based on a novel electrooptic polymerincorporating high μβ chromophore

We have synthesized a novel electrooptic (EO) polymer based on a high μβ chromophore incorporating tricyanobutadiene acceptors. A crosslinked polyurethane network was also adopted to enhance its thermal stability. In order to find the optimum poling condition for the polymer, the influence of the electric poling profile on optical characteristics such as the EO effect, thermal stability, and damage was investigated. Then a high-speed intensity modulator using the EO polymer was designed and fabricated. The measured half-wave voltage V_π was 4.5 V at the wavelength of 1.31 μm. Accordingly, the achieved EO coefficient r₃₃ was as high as 25 pm/V, and the thermal stability of the poled polymer was as high as 95°C. Finally, the modulator was successfully operated up to 40 GHz     

共面波导电极聚合物电光调制器多层结构研究

提出了两种基于共面波导(CPW)电极的多层聚合物电光调制器模型结构,分别为补偿层型结构和屏蔽层型结构。采用了保角变换的计算方法给出了基于CPW电极结构的多层电光调制器的特性参数的计算结果。与传统调制器结构性比较,补偿层型结构能够有效的减小光波与微波传输有效折射率的差,屏蔽层型结构不仅能够减小光波与微波传输有效折射率的差,而且能够通过优化结构参数,有效地消除了微波与光波之间的折射率差,可实现调制信号速率和调制电极阻抗的同时匹配。     

High Aspect-Ratio Coplanar Waveguide Wideband Bandpass Filter With Compact Unit Cells

This paper introduces a micromachined thick single-metal-layer high aspect-ratio coplanar waveguide (CPW) wideband bandpass filter with compact unit cells based on the electromagnetic bandgap (EBG) concept. The filter is miniaturized as a result of using the EBG concept in design, and also by realizing high aspect-ratio structures with polymer-based deep X-ray lithography fabrication. Cascaded unit cells in the EBG model consist of capacitive and inductive parallel periodically loaded transmission lines, which determine the filter bandwidth. Compact unit cells are realized by using high aspect-ratio CPW stepped-impedance resonators. The main advantage of this approach is that the high aspect-ratio CPW structures make short unit cells practically realizable, resulting in a compact filter structure. A bandpass filter with 47% bandwidth is designed and fabricated using deep X-ray lithography, and the performance and physical size is compared to a conventional quarter-wavelength-based admittance inverter filter.      

Characterization of surface-undoped In0.52Al0.48As/In0.53Ga0.47As/InP high electron mobilitytransistors

High-performance 0.3-μm-gate-length surface-undoped In_0.52 Al_0.48As/In_0.53Ga_0.47As/InP high-electron-mobility transistors (HEMTs) grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) have been characterized and compared with a surface-doped structure. At 18 GHz, the surface-undoped HEMT has achieved a maximum stable gain (MSG) of 19.2 dB compared to 16.0 dB for the surface-doped structure. The higher MSG value of the surface-undoped HEMTs is obtained due to the improved g_m/g₀ ratio associated with the surface-induced electric field spreading effect. Comparison of identical 0.3-×150-μm-gate devices fabricated on surface-undoped and -doped structures has shown greatly improved gate leakage characteristics and much lower output conductance for the surface-undoped structure. It is demonstrated that the surface potential, modulated by different surface layer designs, affects the charge control in the conducting channel, especially the carrier injection into the buffer, resulting in excess output conductance. Several millimeter-wave coplanar waveguide (CPW) monolithic distributed amplifiers have been successfully fabricated by using the surface-undoped HEMT structure. A high gain per stage distributed amplifier with 170-dB±1-dB small-signal gain across a frequency band of 24-40 GHz, a W-band monolithic integrated circuit with 6.4-dB gain at 94 GHz, and a broad bandwidth distributed amplifier with 5-dB gain across a frequency band of 5 to 100 GHz have been demonstrated by using the surface-undoped structures