A BROAD-BAND TI-LINBO3 OPTICAL MODULATOR WITH A RIDGE STRUCTURE

We describe the design, fabrication, and characteristics of a Ti:LiNbO 3 optical modulator with a ridge structure. The structure keeps microw ave propagation loss low and enables a large interaction between micro waves and optical waves under the conditions of velocity-matching and impedance matching, resulting in a large modulation bandwidth and low driving voltage. Using this structure, we have developed an optical in tensity modulator with an optical 3-dB band width of 75 GHz and a driv ing voltage of 5.0 V at a wavelength of 1.5 mu m.