4:45 PM - 5:00 PM
[14p-2G-12] Fabrication of LiTaO3-Buried Channel Optical Waveguides and their Application to Electro-Optic Polarization Modulators
Keywords:optical modulation,optical waveguide,optical polarization control
An experimental study on the LiTaO3 electro-optic polarization modulator using a buried channel optical waveguide is reported. We found that utilizing a precisely designed buried channel waveguide, the complete phase matching in polarization modulation between TE and TM modes is obtainable in an x-propagation LiTaO3 modulator. The LiTaO3 buried channel optical waveguide with a core size of a few micrometer square surrounded by glass or optical plastics was fabricated using CMP, dicing, and dry-etching techniques. The measured propagation loss values in the fabricated waveguide were 0.67dB/cm for the TE mode and 0.75dB/cm for the TM mode. The polarization modulation was also verified in the designed wavelength range of 1550nm. The measured 3dB wavelength width was about 20nm.