The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Apr. 06, 2010
Filed:
Sep. 11, 2008
Giovanni Gilardi, Olginate, IT;
Paolo Milanese, Olevano Di Lomellina, IT;
Simone Pensa, Albano Vercelles, IT;
Giovanni Gilardi, Olginate, IT;
Paolo Milanese, Olevano Di Lomellina, IT;
Simone Pensa, Albano Vercelles, IT;
Oclaro (North America), Inc., Fremont, CA (US);
Abstract
An optical modulator comprises a Z-cut lithium niobate substrate on which is formed a Mach-Zehnder interferometer having two generally parallel waveguides lying beneath a buffer layer of dielectric material. First and second ground electrodes and a hot electrode are disposed on the buffer layer, the first and second ground electrodes being spaced either side of the hot electrode, the hot electrode and the first ground electrode being proximate to at least apart of the respective waveguides. The electrode structure is unsymmetrical in that (a) the hot electrode and the first ground electrode each have a width substantially less than that of the second ground electrode and or (b) the spacing between the first ground and hot electrodes is different from the spacing between the second ground and hot electrodes. whereby a range of chirp values can be obtained. When the spacing between the first ground and hot electrodes is smaller than the spacing between the second ground and hot electrodes, and preferably the hot and first ground electrodes have a width not exceeding 15 .μm, the modulator is capable of operation at frequencies above 10 GHz, possibly up to around 40 GHz.