Broad-band multisection electrooptic modulators

Author

Lax, Benjamin ; Marino, Richard M. ; Eng, R.S.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Phys., MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA

Volume

24

Issue

10

fYear

1988

fDate

10/1/1988 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

2101

Lastpage

2116

Abstract

A general solution has been derived for expressing the conversion of power from a base frequency to a modulation sideband using a multisection electrooptic modulator. The objective is to obtain broadband frequency modulation of a laser by the use of multiple collinear electrooptic crystals with microwave power levels well below the breakdown threshold. It is found that segmented structures lead to greater bandwidths, which increase with the number of modular sections. This is achieved by adjusting the phases of microwaves between sections to maximize the single-sideband conversion efficiency. It is shown that a 10.6-μm CO₂ laser modulator with six geometrically identical CdTe sections can potentially achieve a 3-dB bandwidth of nearly 6 GHz using a 10-kW traveling-wave tube operating at 16-GHz center frequency

Keywords

II-VI semiconductors; cadmium compounds; carbon compounds; electro-optical devices; gas lasers; optical modulation; 10.6 micron; CO₂; CO₂ laser modulator; CdTe; base frequency; broad band multisection electrooptic modulator; broadband frequency modulation; microwave power levels; modular sections; modulation sideband; multiple collinear electrooptic crystals; optical modulation; power conversion; segmented structures; semiconductor; single-sideband conversion efficiency; traveling-wave tube; Amplitude modulation; Bandwidth; Electric breakdown; Electrooptic modulators; Frequency conversion; Frequency modulation; Intensity modulation; Lasers and electrooptics; Masers; Optical modulation;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Quantum Electronics, IEEE Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9197

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/3.8548

Filename

8548