Optical modulator and an optical modulating method
US5995685A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Mar 30, 1998 |
| Grant date | Nov 30, 1999 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Mar 30, 2018 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG02F2203/50
- WIPO fieldOptics
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
An optical modulator suitable for use in, for example, a terminal apparatus in an optical communication system when an optical signal is modulated has a power splitting unit for splitting a power of an incident light into two split lights, a first intensity modulating unit for performing an intensity modulation on one of the split lights split by the power splitting unit and outputting an intensity-modulated optical signal containing a direct current component, an optical phase shifting unit for performing a phase shift on the other of the split lights split by the power splitting unit such that the light has a phase opposite to that of the intensity-modulated optical signal, and a direct current component suppressing unit for making the intensity-modulated optical signal and the light subjected to the phase shift interfere with each other to suppress the direct current component contained in the intensity-modulated optical signal and outputting the intensity-modulated optical signal, thereby obtaining the modulated optical signal with a high extinction ratio although being driven at a low voltage.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.