Low drive voltage optical modulator
US6341184B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignees
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Sep 8, 2000 |
| Grant date | Jan 22, 2002 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Sep 8, 2020 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG02F2203/15
- WIPO fieldOptics
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
An optical modulator that includes a resonator near one arm of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer and that increases the optical length of that arm so as to introduce a phase-shift in an optical signal propagating in that arm when compared to an optical signal propagating in the other arm of the interferometer. The resonator also increases the electro-optic interaction between an electrical signal (i.e., the source of information in a modulated signal) and the optical devices (e.g., waveguides). A modulator constructed in accordance with the present invention is thus physically small than prior art modulators and requires a significantly reduced drive voltage to impart information on an optical signal.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.