Characterization of a multilayered dielectric transmissive phase modulator

摘要

We describe a multilayered dielectric stack configuration designed specifically for use as a transmissive phase modulator for broadband optical signals. Applications for this device range from full aperture wavefront correction to nonmechanical beam steering arrays for free space optical communication links. Our implementation employs alternating GaAs and AlAs layers of varying thickness on a GaAs substrate to create a bandpass region of high average transmission in the near infrared. Within this transmission bandpass, the phase component of the complex transmission coefficient varies in a near-linear fashion with respect to wavelength. The transmission bandpass is designed to have a bandwidth of 21.0 nm (or 6.3THz frequency bandwidth) and to have an edge-to-edge relative phase change of greater than 4π radians. Modification of the stack materials' optical properties causes the transmission profile to shift spectrally, resulting in a phase modulation for specific bands of transmitted frequencies. Our broadband phase modulator imparts nearly a full-cycle of phase modulation with low loss and low group velocity dispersion. A sample comprising 91 alternating layers has been fabricated to exhibit the bandpass properties required for optical signal phase modulation. We experimentally characterize the sample using an interferometer and spectrometer to measure the spectral transmission and relative phase profiles and to assess the relative phase modulation in response to a variable angle of incidence. We compare the experimental data to computational predictions and discuss the results.