Temperature dependence of dc drift of Ti:LiNbO3 optical modulators with sputter deposited SiO2 buffer layer

Abstract

The temperature dependence of the dc drift of Mach–Zehnder external modulators is evaluated based on Ti diffused LiNbO3 with a sputter deposited SiO2 buffer layer. From Arrhenius’ plots of the results, activation energies of the drift rate between 25 and 80 °C were found to be about 1 eV. The activation energy seems to depend on the structural parameters of the SiO2 layer.