Hybrid amorphous silicon (a-Si:H)-LiNbO3 electro-optic modulator

作者：Cao Liang^*; Aboketaf Abdelsalam; Wang Zihao; Preble Stefan

来源：Optics Communications, 2014, 330: 40-44.

DOI：10.1016/j.optcom.2014.05.021

• LiNbO3
• Modulator
• Silicon photonics
• Hybrid

Here we report the demonstration of a GHz-speed Lithium Niobate (LiNbO3) modulator that uses an amorphous Silicon waveguide to strongly confine light. The compact ( %26lt; 1 mm) modulator is realized by low-temperature deposition of hydrogenated amorphous Silicon (a-Si:H) onto a x-cut LiNbO3 substrate. The a-Si:H provides tight waveguide mode confinement while allowing strong evanescent coupling to the underlying LiNbO3 substrate which, in turn, enables efficient electro-optic modulation. This approach overcomes the traditional drawbacks of low-index contrast LiNbO3 waveguides and consequently is able to realize a strong Pockels effect in a densely integrated Silicon photonics platform. It is expected that this new Si-LiNbO3 platform will enable a multitude of devices and circuits for RF Photonics, nonlinear optics and quantum optics.

• 出版日期2014-11-1