An optical signal modulation path, electro-optic modulator and optical transmitter

Abstract

An optical signal modulation pathway, an electro-optic modulator and an optical transmitter. All electrodes on the optical signal modulation pathway except a reference electrode differ from the reference electrode in the material parameters of electro-optic crystals and / or the width of an electric field when the electric field acts in the transverse direction. The phases of input light signals varied by the other electrodes are greater than the phase of the input light signal varied by the reference electrode. In the case that a particular space is occupied by the entire optical signal modulation pathway, when a high level is accessed to the electrodes on the optical signal modulation pathway, as compared to the situation where only the reference electrode is present on the optical signal modulation pathway, the accumulated value of the phases of the input light signals that can be varied by the entire optical signal modulation pathway can be increased by increasing the phases of the input light signals varied, with no need of the increase in the number of electrodes or the length of individual electrodes.

Description

technical field [0001] The invention relates to the technical field of optical communication, in particular to an optical signal modulation path, an electro-optical modulator and an optical transmitter. Background technique [0002] Electro-optic modulators are mainly based on the basic principle of electro-optic crystals and the linear electro-optic effect in anisotropic polymers, that is, the refractive index of electro-optic crystals changes with the applied external electric field. At present, the more commonly used electro-optical modulators in coherent optical communication systems are LiNbO 3 Mach-Zehnder Modulator (MZM) made of crystal, LiNbO 3 The refractive index of the crystal changes significantly with the voltage of the applied external electric field. Such as figure 1 The structure of the MZM shown in LiNbO 3 The crystal is in the upper and lower two voltage signals V 1 (t) and V 2 Under the action of (t), the refractive index changes, and the optical sig...

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Problems solved by technology

[0005] The above-mentioned electro-optic modulator uses the method of changing the length of each electrode to change the size of the phase of the output light after it is transmitted through each electrode. This method only changes the length of the electrode. When the length of each electrode is equal, other parameters are not changed. In the case of changing, if you want to increase the phase of the optical signal accumulated by the electrodes of each optical signal modulation path, you need to increase the number of electrodes, which will lead to a large number of electrodes used by the electro-optic modulator; when the length of each electrode is not equal , and other parameters remain unchanged, if you want to increase the phase of the optical signal that is changed by the electrodes of each optical signal modulation path, you need to increase the length of one or more electrodes, which will cause the electrodes in the electro-optic modulator Consumed electro-optic material increased

The electrodes per unit length in the above electro-optic modulator can change the phase of the optical signal is a constant value, and the phase of the optical signal changed by increasing the electrode accumulation of each optical signal modulation path can be realized by increasing the number of electrodes or changing the length of the electrodes. The size will increase the size of the optical signal modulation channel, thereby increasing the size of the electro-optic modulator, which is not conducive to integration

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