Reliability of lithium niobate Mach-Zehnder modulators for digital optical fiber telecommunication systems

Abstract

This paper is about the reliability of lithium niobate external modulators, one of the first major commercial successes for integrated optical circuits in fiber optics. Results from Bellcore type qualification programs along with long term aging tests at several temperatures for 2.5 Gb/s and 10 Gb/s modulator types will be presented., Additional published reliability data will be referenced and shown, however, limited information is available. Actual field data will also be presented. Where fitting or noteworthy, references will be made to other types of integrated optical circuits as this technology field is much greater than modulators alone. For the purposes of this paper, lasers, electro-absorption modulators, acousto-optic devices and optical detectors are not considered even though they too are highly commercially successful integrated photonic devices.