Advanced Electrode Design for Low-Voltage High-Speed Thin-Film Lithium Niobate Modulators

In this paper, we present a novel transmission line architecture in thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN) platforms to improve the velocity match between the microwave and the optical wave. Compared to conventional coplanar waveguide (CPW), the microwave index (n_m) of the proposed slotted electrodes can...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:IEEE photonics journal 2021-04, Vol.13 (2), p.1-9
Main Authors: Huang, Xingrui, Liu, Yang, Li, Zezheng, Guan, Huan, Wei, Qingquan, Yu, Zhiguo, Li, Zhiyong
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bandwidths
Circuits
CMOS
Coplanar waveguides
Electric potential
Electro-optical systems
Electrodes
Finite element method
Impedance
Indexes
Lithium niobates
Mach-Zehnder interferometers
Microwave circuits
Microwave integrated circuits
Microwave photonics
Modulation
Modulators
optical interconnects
Thin films
Transmission lines
Voltage
waveguide devices
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Summary:In this paper, we present a novel transmission line architecture in thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN) platforms to improve the velocity match between the microwave and the optical wave. Compared to conventional coplanar waveguide (CPW), the microwave index (n_m) of the proposed slotted electrodes can be optimized from 2.1 to 3 while maintaining the high modulation efficiency and 50-\Omega impedance match. Equivalent-circuit model analysis and finite-element simulation are performed. The simulated half-wave voltage (V_\pi) of 1.2 V and E-O modulation bandwidth greater than 80 GHz is obtained for a 2-cm-long modulator. By utilizing the slotted slow-wave electrode, TFLN Mach-Zehnder modulators with CMOS-compatible operating voltage and 3-dB modulation bandwidth greater than 100 GHz are potentialized.
ISSN:1943-0655
1943-0647
DOI:10.1109/JPHOT.2021.3066159