Single chip modulator from 10MHz to 1THz
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Researchers at ETH Switzerland have developed a modulator that can convert electrical data to optical signals from 10MHz to 1.14 THz in a single device.
The plasmonic modulator developed by a team at ETH Zurich could be used for 6G networks. A photonic IC (PIC) has already been built by spinout company Polariton Technologies which is looking to commercialise the technology.
The team has demonstrated a frequency response beyond the 1 THz and develop an equivalent circuit model of the modulator. Our results show that plasmonic modulators are uniquely suited for THz PICs.
“Our modulator allows radio signals and other electrical signals to be converted into optical signals directly and therefore efficiently,” says Yannik Horst, who worked on the component during his doctoral thesis. “We cover the entire frequency range with a single component. It’s therefore extremely versatile in terms of applications,” says Horst.
The modulator consists of two parallel plasmonic phase shifters connected via GSG contact pads, directly applying the THz field across 10–15 µm long slots with 100 nm widths.
The light propagates through a silicon waveguides to the plasmonic modulator and interacts with the nonlinear organic electro-optic (OEO, light green) material filling the slot. A THz frequency signal is generated by an external source from the electrical signal and fed to the plasmonic modulator where the THz field is also highly confined and encoded onto the optical carrier.
The resulting modulated optical signal is coupled into a Si waveguide and then out of the PIC via another grating. Eight different sources based on electrical mixers were used to generate sinusoidal THz signals across the frequency range from 10 MHz to 1.14 THz.
The resulting device has a 3 dB electrooptic bandwidth of 997 GHz, which is more than double that of other devices.
Modulators of this kind could be used wherever large volumes of data are transmitted as a bridge between the electrical world and data transmission using light. “Data is always initially present in electrical form and nowadays, its transmission always involves optical fibres at some point,” said Jürg Leuthold, Professor of Photonics and Communications at ETH Zurich.
Other potential applications include optical fibre data transmission within and between high-performance computing centres, as well as high-performance measurement technology, including imaging techniques in medicine, spectroscopic methods for material analysis, baggage scanners at airports, or radar technology. Some devices already operate in the terahertz range.
The modulator was developed at ETH Zurich and manufactured by Polariton, a spin-off from Leuthold’s group.
www.ethz.ch; doi.org/10.1364/OPTICA.544016; www.polariton.ch/
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