A fiber optic phase modulator with an optical frequency shift of up to 20 GHz

A fiber optic phase modulator is described in which the phase of a light wave traveling in an optical fiber is modulated by a composite electromechanical resonator with Q≌1000. The instantaneous frequency of the wave at the modulator output varies according to a harmonic law. The interval of tuning of the instantaneous light wave frequency achieved in the experiment is 20 GHz, which corresponds to a modulation index of ≌10⁶. It is demonstrated that a maximum value of the frequency tuning range is determined by the elastic limit of the resonator material.