Analysis and design of surface-normal Fabry-Perot electrooptic modulators

Journal Article · Wed Nov 01 04:00:00 EST 1989 · IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) Journal of Quantum Electronics; (USA)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1109/3.42056· OSTI ID:5295263

Yan, R H; Simes, R J; Coldren, L A ^[1]

---

1. California Univ., Santa Barbara, CA (USA). Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Design equations relating the refractive index shift, absorption change, cavity length, and grating properties are derived for Fabry-Perot modulators. Experimental results of reflection modulators with GaAs/AlGaAs multiple quantum well active regions are given. With experimental justifications, the design equations are applied by investigating the optimization of the reflectivity modulation and the sensitivity of the performance on the operating conditions. The modulation is found to be mainly determined by the index shift and is less sensitive to the accompanying absorption change for a chirp greater than one where the chirp is defined as the ratio of the real part of index change to the imaginary part. Modulation can also be obtained via absorption modulation when the chirp is small. However, the residual loss in the cavity with multiple quantum wells should be kept lower than 500 cm/sup -1/ which is independent of the cavity length, in order for the reflectivity modulation to be at least 50 percent, starting from 0 percent reflection, i.e., normally off. A finesse on the order of 100 is suitable for efficient modulations, while still maintaining a low sensitivity to the design uncertainties and the operating conditions. For a finesse of 100, the optimized cavity is found to be about one and a half times the material optical wavelength ({yields}0.4{mu}m) with an operating voltage of 4 V for the multiple quantum well material, although the exact value depends on the experimental details.

• OSTI ID: 5295263
• Journal Information: IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) Journal of Quantum Electronics; (USA), Journal Name: IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) Journal of Quantum Electronics; (USA) Vol. 25:11; ISSN 0018-9197; ISSN IEJQA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

42 ENGINEERING
426002* -- Engineering-- Lasers & Masers-- (1990-)
DESIGN
EFFICIENCY
ELECTRO-OPTICAL EFFECTS
FABRY-PEROT INTERFEROMETER
FREQUENCY MODULATION
GRATINGS
INTERFEROMETERS
LASER CAVITIES
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
MODULATION
OPTIMIZATION
PHASE SHIFT
QUANTUM EFFICIENCY