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Advances in OptoElectronics
Volume 2008 (2008), Article ID 373259, 5 pages
doi:10.1155/2008/373259
Research Article

Optical Intensity Modulation in an LiNbO3 Slab-Coupled Waveguide

Yalin Lu1 and Kitt Reinhardt2

1Laser and Optics Research Center (LORC), Department of Physics, United States Air Force Academy, CO 80840, USA
2Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR)/NE, 875 North Randolph Street, Suite 326, Arlington, VA 22203, USA

Received 29 September 2008; Accepted 3 December 2008

Academic Editor: Jung Huang

Copyright © 2008 Yalin Lu and Kitt Reinhardt. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Optical intensity modulation has been demonstrated through switching the optical beam between the main core waveguide and a closely attached leaky slab waveguide by applying a low-voltage electrical field. Theory for simulating such an LiNb O 3 slab-coupled waveguide structure was suggested, and the result indicates the possibility of making the spatial guiding mode large, circular and symmetric, which further allows the potential to significantly reduce the coupling losses with adjacent lasers and optical networks. Optical intensity modulation using electro-optic effect was experimentally demonstrated in a 5 cm long waveguide fabricated by using a procedure of soft proton exchange and then an overgrowth of thin LN film on top of a c-cut LiNb O 3 wafer.