LiNbO3traveling-wave light modulator/switch with an etched groove

A Ti dffused lithium niobate traveling-wave interferometric light modulator/switch with a groove excavated at the electrode gap has been fabricated and tested at microwave frequency. The groove suppresses the undesirable light coupling between the two parallel waveguides for the phase shifting section so that the drive voltage is decreased by reducing the separation of the parallel waveguides, or of the electrodes. In addition, the groove decreases the effective index for the modulating wave to reduce the velocity mismatch between light wave and microwave so that the bandwidth is broadened. The modulation experiment was carried out from dc to 15 GHz at 633 nm light wavelength. For the modulator with the electrodes 6 mm long and 10 μm apart, the half-wave or switching voltage was 3 V, the extinction ratio was 18 dB, the 3 dB bandwidth was 12 GHz and a of 1.5 mW/GHz was obtained.