Inductance-Tuned Electro-optic Modulators

Electro-optic modulators serve as a critical component in various technological fields, including telecommunications, data centers, and signal processing applications. These devices aim to convert electrical signals into optical signals, allowing for higher speed and lower attenuation transmission. The challenge is to achieve optimal modulation efficiency and bandwidth while maintaining compatibility with existing microwave components. Although conventional microwave transmission lines attempt to reduce microwave velocity by tuning their capacitance, this practice often results in a lower impedance level, which is not compatible with most microwave components that have an impedance of 50Ω. Additionally, these traditional methods struggle with matching the microwave velocity with the optical group velocity. Such issues can impact the device's performance negatively, leading to degradation in signal strength and transmission efficiency.

Technology Description

The featured technology is an advanced electro-optic modulator. This device operates by translating the information enclosed in an electrical signal moving on a transmission line onto an optical carrier. The modulator uses the variations in the electrical signal's voltage as a way to modulate the refractive index or absorption inside an electro-optic material from which the optical carrier propagates. Its design attempts to match the microwave and optical waves in speed, ensuring optimal bandwidth and modulation efficiency. To achieve this balance, the modulator uses tuning of the microwave transmission line's inductance to match the velocity of microwaves with optical group velocity across bandwidths of 100 GHz or more. Unlike conventional modulators, which often have a microwave velocity higher than the optical group velocity, this technology manages to maintain a microwave impedance of 50Ω. Traditional efforts to reduce microwave velocity, such as tuning a microwave transmission line's capacitance, usually diminish the impedance below the 50Ω mark of most microwave components. However, the present technology differentiates itself by being able to balance both the impedance and velocity effectively.