Lithium niobate photonic-crystal electro-optic modulator

Mingxiao Li, Jingwei Ling, Yang He, Usman A. Javid, Shixin Xue and Qiang Lin ()
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Mingxiao Li: University of Rochester
Jingwei Ling: University of Rochester
Yang He: University of Rochester
Usman A. Javid: University of Rochester
Shixin Xue: University of Rochester
Qiang Lin: University of Rochester

Nature Communications, 2020, vol. 11, issue 1, 1-8

Abstract: Abstract Modern advanced photonic integrated circuits require dense integration of high-speed electro-optic functional elements on a compact chip that consumes only moderate power. Energy efficiency, operation speed, and device dimension are thus crucial metrics underlying almost all current developments of photonic signal processing units. Recently, thin-film lithium niobate (LN) emerges as a promising platform for photonic integrated circuits. Here, we make an important step towards miniaturizing functional components on this platform, reporting high-speed LN electro-optic modulators, based upon photonic crystal nanobeam resonators. The devices exhibit a significant tuning efficiency up to 1.98 GHz V−1, a broad modulation bandwidth of 17.5 GHz, while with a tiny electro-optic modal volume of only 0.58 μm3. The modulators enable efficient electro-optic driving of high-Q photonic cavity modes in both adiabatic and non-adiabatic regimes, and allow us to achieve electro-optic switching at 11 Gb s−1 with a bit-switching energy as low as 22 fJ. The demonstration of energy efficient and high-speed electro-optic modulation at the wavelength scale paves a crucial foundation for realizing large-scale LN photonic integrated circuits that are of immense importance for broad applications in data communication, microwave photonics, and quantum photonics.

Date: 2020
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-17950-7

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