Lithium niobate ridge waveguide modulator

Abstract

A narrow ridge was ion-beam etched on an outdiffused LiNbO3 crystal to form a single-mode waveguide confining the beam in both transverse dimensions. Electrodes were evaporated along the ridge to produce a very efficient electro-optic phase modulator requiring a power of 20 μ W/MHz of bandwidth and a voltage of 1.2 V to produce a modulation index of 1 rad.