Della Torre Alberto, Dubois Florian, Zarebidaki Homa, Volpini Andrea, Leo Jacopo, Mettraux Arno, Manzoor Ayman, Prieto Ivan, Grassani Davide, Dubochet Olivier, Despont Michel, Sattari Hamed
Opt Express. 2025 Feb 24;33(4):6747-6757. doi: 10.1364/OE.548003.
Integrated electro-optical modulators with small footprints and low half-wave voltage are essential for applications requiring high integration density and low power consumption. Modulators based on thin-film lithium niobate technology have been proven to perform excellently, both in terms of low voltage and high bandwidth operation. However, achieving half-wave voltages of ∼1 V, which allows to directly drive the modulator with CMOS circuits, typically requires long structures. Folding the device is a possible approach to achieve a CMOS-compatible voltage level in a compact design. Yet, this method requires meticulous design and advanced manufacturing technology. To achieve large scale deployment of this technology, it is imperative to further develop thin-film lithium niobate photonic integrated circuits manufacturing. Here, we address these requirements and report folded electro-optical modulators, operating at 1550 nm in TE polarization, with half-wave voltage as low as 0.9 V or bandwidths up to beyond 40 GHz in a compact 5 mm × 5 mm chip fabricated in CSEM's open-access foundry process using standardized process design kit components.
对于需要高集成密度和低功耗的应用而言，具有小尺寸和低半波电压的集成电光调制器至关重要。基于薄膜铌酸锂技术的调制器已被证明在低电压和高带宽操作方面均表现出色。然而，要实现约1 V的半波电压（这使得能够直接用CMOS电路驱动调制器）通常需要长结构。折叠器件是在紧凑设计中实现与CMOS兼容电压电平的一种可能方法。然而，这种方法需要精心设计和先进的制造技术。为了实现该技术的大规模部署，进一步发展薄膜铌酸锂光子集成电路制造势在必行。在此，我们满足这些要求，并报告了折叠电光调制器，其在TE偏振下于1550 nm波长工作，在使用标准化工艺设计套件组件通过CSEM的开放式铸造工艺制造的紧凑5 mm×5 mm芯片中，半波电压低至0.9 V或带宽高达40 GHz以上。
