Ultra-high-linearity integrated lithium niobate electro-optic modulators

Hanke Feng, Ke Zhang, Wenzhao Sun, Yangming Ren, Yiwen Zhang, Wenfu Zhang, Cheng Wang*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Journal Publications and ReviewsRGC 21 - Publication in refereed journalpeer-review

47 Citations (Scopus)
208 Downloads (CityUHK Scholars)

Abstract

Integrated lithium niobate (LN) photonics is a promising platform for future chip-scale microwave photonics systems owing to its unique electro-optic properties, low optical loss, and excellent scalability. A key enabler for such systems is a highly linear electro-optic modulator that could faithfully convert analog electrical signals into optical signals. In this work, we demonstrate a monolithic integrated LN modulator with an ultra-high spuriousfree dynamic range (SFDR) of 120.04 dB · Hz4/5 at 1 GHz, using a ring-assisted Mach-Zehnder interferometer configuration. The excellent synergy between the intrinsically linear electro-optic response of LN and an optimized linearization strategy allows us to fully suppress the cubic terms of third-order intermodulation distortions (IMD3) without active feedback controls, leading to ~20 dB improvement over previous results in the thin-film LN platform. Our ultra-high-linearity LN modulators could become a core building block for future large-scale functional microwave photonic integrated circuits by further integration with other high-performance components like low-loss delay lines, tunable filters, and phase shifters available on the LN platform. © 2022 Chinese Laser Press
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)2366-2373
JournalPhotonics Research
Volume10
Issue number10
Online published27 Sept 2022
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Oct 2022

Funding

National Natural Science Foundation of China (61922092); Research Grants Council, University Grants Committee (CityU 11204820, CityU 21208219, N_CityU113/20); Croucher Foundation (9509005); City University of Hong Kong (9610402, 9610455).

Publisher's Copyright Statement

  • COPYRIGHT TERMS OF DEPOSITED FINAL PUBLISHED VERSION FILE: Feng, H., Zhang, K., Sun, W., Ren, Y., Zhang, Y., Zhang, W., & Wang, C. (2022). Ultra-high-linearity integrated lithium niobate electro-optic modulators. Photonics Research, 10(10), 2366-2373. https://doi.org/10.1364/PRJ.464650. © 2022 Chinese Laser Press.

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