Compact Mach-Zehnder acousto-optic modulator

摘要

The authors demonstrate a compact optical waveguide modulator based on a Mach-Zehnder interferometer driven by surface acoustic waves. The modulator was monolithically fabricated on GaAs with an active region length of approximately 15 μm. It yields peak-to-peak modulation exceeding 90% of the average transmission and operation in the gigahertz frequency range.