A novel electro-optic polymer, Furan TetraCyano Indane (FTC), has been utilised in the fabrication of low Vπ, high-speed, travelling-wave Mach-Zehnder modulator arrays. The modulators were realised with microstrip transmission lines that were optimised resulting in a line loss of 3.64 dB/cm at 40 GHz. Mach-Zehnder modulators based on this design with 1.62 cm interaction length resulted in devices with Vπ < 5 V and a reasonably flat frequency response up to 40 GHz. Electrical crosstalk measurements were also conducted on adjacent modulators separated by 400 µm in a modulator array. Without the implementation of any crosstalk reduction techniques, the measurement results indicated a crosstalk level of < –40 dB in the frequency band between 0 and 40 GHz. These impressive results were a consequence of the low dielectric constant of the polymer material at microwave frequencies and of the small lateral dimensions of the microstrip lines.
References
-
-
1)
-
Ungvichian, V., Kopp, M.: `Crosstalk in coupled microstriplines due to substrate permitivity and S/h ratios', Proc. Southcon/94, March 1994, Orlando, USA, p. 301–304.
-
2)
-
R. Becker ,
B. Kincaid
.
High-performance, high-isolation optical guided-wavedevice arrays.
IEEE J. Lightwave Technol.
,
2 ,
260 -
266
-
3)
-
Ishikawa, T., Yamashita, E.: `Low crosstalk characteristics of buriedmicrostrip lines', Symp. IEEE Microw. Theory Tech. Soc., May 1995, 2, New York, USA, p. 853–856.
-
4)
-
W. Wang ,
D. Chen ,
H.R. Fetterman ,
Y. Shi ,
W.H. Steier ,
L.R. Dalton ,
P. Chow
.
Optical heterodyne detection of 60 GHz electro-optic modulation frompolymer waveguide modulators.
Appl. Phys. Lett.
,
13 ,
1806 -
1808
-
5)
-
D. Chen ,
H.R. Fetterman ,
A. Chen ,
W.H. Steier ,
L.R. Dalton ,
W. Wang ,
Y. Shi
.
Demonstration of 110 GHz electro-optic polymer modulators.
Appl. Phys. Lett.
,
25
-
6)
-
Chen, A., Garner, S., Yacoubian, A., Steier, W.H., Chen, J., Harper, A., Zhu, J., He, M., Sun, S., Wang, F., Ra, Y., Mao, S., Zhang, C., Dalton, L.R., Chen, D., Fetterman, H.R.: `Characterization of electro-optic polymers with high mu betachromophores for photonic device applications', Conf. OSA Organic Thin Films for Photonic Applications, Oct. 1997, 14, Long Beach, USA, p. 173–175.
-
7)
-
H. Chung ,
W. Chang ,
E. Adler
.
Modeling and optimization of traveling-wave LiNbO3 interferometric modulators.
IEEE J. Quantum Electron.
,
3 ,
608 -
617
-
8)
-
D. Chen ,
D. Bhattacharya ,
A. Udupa ,
B. Tsap ,
H.R. Fetterman ,
A. Chen ,
S. Lee ,
J. Chen ,
W.H. Steier ,
L.R. Dalton
.
High-frequency polymermodulators with integrated finline transitions and lowπ.
IEEE Photonics Technol. Lett.
,
1 ,
54 -
56
http://iet.metastore.ingenta.com/content/journals/10.1049/el_19991181
Related content
content/journals/10.1049/el_19991181
pub_keyword,iet_inspecKeyword,pub_concept
6
6