Flexible-format Optical Modulators with a Hybrid Configuration of Silica Planar Lightwave Circuits and LiNbO 3 Phase Modulators

摘要

We have devised and fabricated two types of flexible-format optical modulators that let us flexibly change the modulation format: a single-carrier modulator, which supports 4-, 8-, and 16-level modulations, and a multicarrier modulator, which provides a selectable combination of the number of frequency carriers and modulation levels. Both were fabricated using a hybrid integration of silica planar lightwave circuits and LiNbO 3 phase modulators and successfully operated at high baud rates corresponding to >100 Gbit/s. These technologies are promising for future spectrally efficient optical networks in which various modulation formats are used flexibly and adaptively.