Multi-electrode photonic digital to analog converting vector modulator
US9977310B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Mar 10, 2014 |
| Grant date | May 22, 2018 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jun 23, 2035 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG02F1/212
- WIPO fieldOptics
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A digital-electronic-to-analog-optical converter, which has a structure consistent with a super-Mach-Zehnder interferometer, and which can perform the functionalities of both a Digital to Analog Converter (DAC) and a digital modulator uses a sub-Mach-Zender modulator to modulate optical wave signals propagating through its optical waveguide in a push-pull manner. The modulation performed is phase modulation realized with electrodes positioned near the optical wave guide where such electrodes carry modulation signals in digital, analog or discrete time signal format creating electromagnetic or electric fields that engage the optical wave signals traveling through the waveguide thus imparting a phase shift onto the optical wave signals. The amount of the phase shift can be implemented through the geometry of the electrodes, the length of time the modulating signal is applied, and the amplitude of the modulating signal.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.