Method for calculating coupling length of Ti:LiNbO3waveguide directional couplers

Reports a theory for calculating the coupling length L _c of Ti:LiNbO₃ single-mode waveguide directional couplers from process parameters and operating wavelength. Estimates are accurate to within a factor of 2 compared with published experimental results for z-cut y-propagating LiNbO₃ devices for 0.63 μm⩽λ⩽1.56 μm. Use of this formalism to assess acceptable process parameter and wavelength tolerances is demonstrated     

Extended baseline architecture for nonblocking photonic switching

A new switch architecture called extended baseline networks (EBN) is proposed for nonblocking photonic switching. This switch is a space-division multistage network using 2×2 optical switch elements which may be directional couplers fabricated on titanium diffused lithium niobate (Ti:LiNbO₃) substrates. A recursive definition for the proposed architecture is presented. Some properties including the number of switch elements required, blocking characteristics, number of crossovers, system attenuation, and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) are derived and analyzed. Most of the characteristics are shown to be better than those of other well-known networks fabricated on single Ti:LiNbO₃ substrates     

High-speed low-voltage modulation with a nonsymmetric Mach-Zehnderinterferometer

The authors demonstrate broadband optical modulation with a Ti:LiNbO₃ nonsymmetric interferometer at microwave frequencies up to 16 GHz. The 3-dB bandwidth of 8.7 GHz is only slightly less than the theoretical limit of 9.6 GHz for a 1-cm-long device. The device uses a 2-μm-thick gold-plated asymmetric stripline electrode, with a characteristic impedance of 40 Ω and ohmic loss of 3 dB/cm at 10 GHz. The DC switching voltage is 6.5 V, and the on/off ratio is -16 dB. Fabrication tolerances in the nonsymmetric interferometer are much less strict than for directional coupler modulators with comparable performance, making this device a better candidate for use in communications systems     

Wavelength sensitivity in directional couplers

Measured and calculated crosstalk ratios as a function of wavelength are compared for proton exchanged and annealed LiNbO₃ directional couplers at λ=1550 nm. The analytical technique employed models the experimentally determined wavelength sensitivities reasonably well. The analytical technique is further used to predict comparable functions for titanium indiffused couplers, and these results are compared to other calculations taken from the literature. No significant difference in sensitivity is noted between the two waveguide forming techniques     

Integrated optics 90° hybrid on LiNbO3 for phasediversity receivers

Present an integrated optic eight-port 90° hybrid on LiNbO₃ comprising four tunable directional couplers and two phase shifters for adjusting the phases between the output ports. Measurements on the phase stability show phase fluctuations of <±5° and a temperature dependence of ≈15°/°C     

Polarization independent, integrated optical, acoustically tunablewavelength filters/switches with tapered acoustical directional coupler

Enhanced sidelobe suppression of the filter characteristics of tunable acousto-optical mode converters in LiNbO₃ has been achieved using for the first time tapered acoustical directional couplers. A sidelobe suppression of more than 15.5 dB could be demonstrated in a single stage device. By combining the mode converter with two integrated optical polarization splitters a polarization independent filter/wavelength selective switch has been fabricated with less than 3 dB intrinsic insertion loss, a polarization dependence of less than 1 dB, and a sidelobe suppression exceeding 14 dB     

LiNbO3晶体纳秒级光开关的研究

LiNbO3晶体由于其透光范围广，响应速度快，不易潮解等特点而广泛用于高精度和高速光开关快门。为了将LiNbO3光开关曝光时间拓宽到纳秒领域从而弥补现有的高速光开关的不足，文章阐述了LiNbO3作为光开关理论原理，对多波段通光的晶体长宽比进行了优化设计，并对LiNbO3纳秒级光开关的可行性进行了实验验证。实验半波电压与理论符合很好，实验光信号和电信号在纳秒级范围内能实现同步响应。研究结果证实了LiNbO3光开关在纳秒级范围内的可行性，并为LiNbO3纳秒级光开关的制作提供了理论和实验依据。     

Length minimization in integrated optical circuits incorporatingdirectional couplers and curved sections

An analysis is presented that describes minimization of overall channel waveguide length in integrated optical circuits incorporating directional couplers and curved sections. Calculations are presented for LiNbO₃, GaAlAs, and SiO₂-Si based optical channel waveguides. The results demonstrate the presence of a minimum total length corresponding to a particular degree of field confinement. The value of overall length at the minimum is shown to be significantly lower than that for other values of field confinement allowing single-mode operation     

Ultralow sidelobe-level integrated acoustooptic tunable filtersusing tapered-gap surface acoustic wave directional couplers

We propose a new weighted-coupling scheme using tapered-gap surface acoustic wave directional couplers for realization of ultralow sidelobe-level integrated acoustooptic tunable filters (IAOTF's). Appropriate design analysis has been carried out for 30-mm-long filters operating at an optical wavelength of 1.55 μm in an X-cut Y-propagating LiNbO₃ substrate. New synthesized weighting functions have been used for the improvement of sidelobe level suppression over existing single-stage filters by as much as 27 dB. The -20 dB mainlobe width of the resulting IAOTF's varies from 2.7 to 3.9 nm only for the worst sidelobe levels ranging from -30.6 to -44.7 dB, respectively. It has also been shown that further suppression of sidelobe levels by 3-9 dB is possible if the filter is underdriven at 80% mode-conversion efficiency     

Modeling of Ti:LiNbO3 waveguide devices. I. Directionalcouplers

An efficient modelling method to simulate Ti-indiffused LiNbO₃ channel waveguide devices from their design and fabrication parameters is discussed. Procedures are: (1) derivation of the two-dimensional (2-D) refractive index profile; (2) transformation of the 2-D transverse refractive index profile to its one-dimensional (1-D) effective index profile; and (3) use of the 2-D beam propagation method to analyze the device performance. With slight consistent adjustments on Ti-induced refractive index changes, it is possible to calculate the performance of directional couplers in good agreement with experimental measurements. This modeling method can be used to predict performance of future devices     

An application of a silica-on-terraced-silicon platform to hybridMach-Zehnder interferometric circuits consisting of silica-waveguidesand LiNbO3 phase-shifters

By using a silica-on-terraced-silicon platform (STS-platform) for optical hybrid integration, we fabricated a hybrid Mach-Zehnder interferometric circuit consisting of silica-waveguide directional couplers and a LiNbO₃ phase-shifter array. The circuit functioned as an optical switch with an insertion loss of 6.0 dB including input and output fiber coupling loss and an extinction ratio of better than 20 dB. The STS-platform was thus confirmed to incorporate both a high-performance planar lightwave circuit and a silicon optical bench     

Comparison between strong coupling theory and experiment forthree-arm directional couplers in Ti:LiNbO3

The derivation of scalar coupled mode theory for TEM waveguide arrays is examined. It is demonstrated that four previously published methods are identical at this level of approximation. The accuracy of the theory and its application to a slab-waveguide model of a three-arm coupler is considered. It is shown that the coupled mode equations require modification for slowly varying arrays. Analytic expressions for the matrix coefficients are presented, and it is demonstrated that device input-output transitions have significant effect on the response. The model is compared with experimental measurements of three-arm couplers fabricated in Ti:LiNbO₃, and excellent qualitative agreement is obtained     

Y-cut LiNbO3 directional coupler with a self-alignedelectrode

A 2×2 Y-cut LiNbO₃ directional coupler switch using a self-aligned uniform Δβ electrode is fabricated by the proton diffusion method. Our design method makes it possible to form the electrode without the delicate alignment of the electrode pattern mask and optical waveguide. The switching voltage is also reduced due to the enhanced electro-optic efficiency by using the self-aligned electrode. To achieve the initial cross state of the uniform Δβ switch that is essential for low crosstalk, we control the proton diffusion time successively after the proton exchange. The measured crosstalk level of the directional coupler switch is -23 dB~-29 dB and its voltage-length product is as small as 9.6 Vmm     

Fabrication tolerance of Ti:LiNbO3 waveguides

A simulation program based on the three-dimensional beam propagation method (BPM) is used to study the fabrication conditions of single-mode Ti:LiNbO₃ waveguides. The calculated cutoff wavelengths are in good agreement with experimental data. The thickness of titanium needed to support the fundamental and first-order modes for three Ti strip widths (6, 7, and 8 μm) is calculated. The two-dimensional BPM is used to calculate the coupling length from the fabrication conditions. Results are consistent with measured data. The fabrication tolerances of the coupling length of directional couplers are also presented     

Lithium–Niobate Channel Waveguide for the Realization of Long-Period Gratings

We propose a special lithium-niobate (LiNbO₃) single-mode waveguide for the realization of long-period gratings, which consists of a channel core embedded in a thin slab cladding. We fabricated the waveguide on a z-cut LiNbO₃ substrate with a two-step proton-exchange process and demonstrated its suitability for grating application with a number of removable photoresist long-period gratings deposited on the waveguide surface. The waveguide fabrication process and the LiNbO₃ waveguide structure could be further explored for the development of electrooptic gratings for high-speed applications.     

A high-speed 4×4 Ti:LiNbO3 integrated optic switchat 1.5 μm

The operation of a fully packaged and pigtailed polarization dependent Ti:LiNbO₃ 4×4 integrated optic switch with an operating wavelength of 1.5 μm is demonstrated. The switching matrix is fast, with a measured 3-dB small-signal bandwidth greater than 1 GHz. Unwanted cross modulation between channels due to coupling between switching elements was measured and found to be less than -20 dB of the signal strength. The switch is composed of balanced bridge switching elements having a 17-V switching voltage, an 18 dB extinction ratio, and an excess optical loss of 0.6 dB     

40 GHz electro-optic modulator with 7·5 V drive voltage

A wideband, low drive voltage LiNbO₃ electro-optic modulator is demonstrated utilising electrodes patterned according to a 13-bit Barker sequence. It exhibits a 3·5 dB optical insertion loss and a 7·5 V switching voltage. The modulation frequency response remains ⩾-5 dB (optical) to beyond 40 GHz     

Polarisation-independent LiNbO3 4×4 matrix switch

The first polarisation independent LiNbO₃ strictly non-blocking 4×4 matrix switch has been developed. This matrix switch has a 4-6 dB insertion loss at any incident polarisation with 1.3 μm wavelength and about 30 V switching voltage     

Optical TDM sorting networks for high-speed switching

The general time-space-time switching problem in telecommunications requires the use of multichannel time slot interchangers. We propose two multichannel time slot sorters which sort N² time-division multiplexed (TDM) optical inputs, arranged as N frames with N time slots per frame using O(Nlog²N) optical switch elements. The TDM optical inputs are sorted in place without expanding the space-time fabric into a space-division switch. The hardware components used are 2×2 optical switches (LiNbO₃ directional couplers) and optical delay lines connected in a feedforward fashion. Two space-time variants of the spatial odd-even merge algorithm are used to design the sorters. By maintaining the number of shift-exchange operations invariant at each stage, the proposed sorters use fewer switches than previously proposed sorters using switches with feedback line delays. The use of local control at each 2×2 switch makes the proposed sorters more practical for high-speed optical inputs than Benes-based time slot permuters with global control and high latency, which affects interframe distance. Both time slot sorters support pipelining of input frames and sorted outputs are available at each time slot after an initial frame delay. The proposed sorters find practical application in the time-domain equivalents of space-division, nonblocking, self-routing packet switches using the sort-banyan architecture, such as the Starlite switch, Sunshine switch, etc