Abstract
We theoretically investigate the electro-optic (EO) effect in a yz-cut potassium niobate (KNbO3, KN) single crystal when a direct-current (DC) electric field is applied in the direction of [̅101]. We derived an analytical expression describing the change in the index ellipsoid under the applied DC electric field and solved its characteristic equation to obtain the refractive-index change induced by the EO effect. In order to show the practicality of our approach, we consider a classic application of the technique — an integrated Mach-Zehnder (MZ) modulator used for optical communication systems. The phase- and the intensity-modulation properties of the KN MZ modulator are discussed in detail, and all simulation results are compared with those for the lithium niobate (LN) counterpart that are widely used in current optical infrastructures. The results show that smaller-size or lower power-consuming EO modulators are feasible based on the proposed KN scheme due to its higher modulation efficiency.
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Acknowledgments
This research was supported by Basic Research Laboratory (BRL) Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Science, ICT & Future Planning (NRF-2016R1A4A1008 978). Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) (2E29580-19-147).
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Kim, Y., Lee, K.J. Characterization of the Electro-Optic Modulation Properties of a yz-Cut Potassium Niobate Single Crystal. J. Korean Phys. Soc. 75, 40–44 (2019). https://doi.org/10.3938/jkps.75.40
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3938/jkps.75.40