Compact electric field sensors based on indirect bonding of lithium niobate to silicon microrings

Integrated microcavity electric field sensors using Pound-Drever-Hall detection

Discerning weak electric fields has important implications for cosmology, quantum technology, and identifying power system failures. Photonic integration of electric field sensors is highly desired for practical considerations and offers opportunities to improve performance by enhancing microwave and lightwave interactions. Here, we demonstrate a high-Q microcavity electric field sensor (MEFS) by leveraging the silicon chip-based thin film lithium niobate photonic integrated circuits. Using the Pound-Drever-Hall detection scheme, our MEFS achieves a detection sensitivity of 5.2 μV/(m[Formula: see text]), which surpasses previous lithium niobate electro-optical electric field sensors by nearly two orders of magnitude, and is comparable to atom-based quantum sensing approaches. Furthermore, our MEFS has a bandwidth that can be up to three orders of magnitude broader than quantum sensing approaches and measures fast electric field amplitude and phase variations in real-time. The ultra-sensitive MEFSs represent a significant step towards building electric field sensing networks and broaden the application spectrum of integrated microcavities.

Intense electric field optical sensor based on Fabry-Perot interferometer utilizing LiNbO3 crystal

A novel intense electric field optical sensor based on Fabry-Perot interferometer utilizing LiNbO3 crystal is proposed and demonstrated. Compared to the traditional bulk-type electric field optical sensors, this sensor unit requires only a LiNbO3 and two collimators, eliminating the need for quarter wave-plate and allowing for measurement of electric field without limitation by half wave voltage. The Vernier effect, generated by birefringence of LiNbO3, is utilized to enhance the sensitivity of electric field measurement, which does not require additional reference cavity. Both theoretical and experimental results illustrate that the wavelength shift of the sensor is linear function of the measured electric field. In the range of 0∼1010 kV/m, the sensor's measurement sensitivity is 2.22 nm/E (V/µm) with detection limit of 1.27 × 10-2 E. Additionally, an MZI is proposed for temperature compensation, resulting in a standard deviation of spectrum variation after compensation of only 5.01 × 10-3. Applications using this sensor confirmed that it is expected to find widespread use in measurements of intense transient electric fields.

Electrode-free photonic electric field sensor on thin film lithium niobate with high sensitivity

A high-sensitivity electrode-free photonic electric field (E-field) sensor is introduced on a thin film lithium niobate (TFLN) platform. An integrated Michelson interferometer, constructed by low-loss etched lithium niobite (LN) waveguide structures, is implemented as the sensing element. The sensing arms are designed in a spiral shape, which facilities a long interaction length with the external E-field in a small chip area. A minimal detectable E-field amplitude of 8.43 mV/m/Hz^1/2 is experimentally obtained. The metal-electrode-free design of the proposed device avoids affecting the E-field to be measured and enables a vectorial response with a measured extinction ratio (ER) of 38 dB.

Linear Electro-Optic Modulation in Highly Polarizable Organic Perovskites

Electrical-to-optical signal conversion is widely employed in information technology and is implemented using on-chip optical modulators. State-of-the-art modulator technologies are incompatible with silicon manufacturing techniques: inorganic nonlinear crystals such as LiNbO₃ are integrated with silicon photonic chips only using complex approaches, and hybrid silicon-LiNbO₃ optical modulators show either low bandwidth or high operating voltage. Organic perovskites are solution-processed materials readily integrated with silicon photonics; and organic molecules embedded within the perovskite scaffold allow in principle for high polarizability. However, it is found that the large molecules required for high polarizability also require an increase of the size of the perovskite cavity: specifically, using the highly polarizable DR²⁺ (R = H, F, Cl) in the A site necessitates the exploration of new X-site options. Only by introducing BF₄ ^- as the X-site molecule is it possible to synthesize (DCl)(NH₄ )(BF₄ )₃ , a material exhibiting a linear EO coefficient of 20 pm V^-1 , which is 10 times higher than that of metal halide perovskites and is a 1.5 fold enhancement compared to reported organic perovskites. The EO response of the organic perovskite approaches that of LiNbO₃ (r_eff  ≈ 30 pm V^-1 ) and highlights the promise of rationally designed organic perovskites for use in efficient EO modulators.

Microstructure and domain engineering of lithium niobate crystal films for integrated photonic applications

Recently, integrated photonics has attracted considerable interest owing to its wide application in optical communication and quantum technologies. Among the numerous photonic materials, lithium niobate film on insulator (LNOI) has become a promising photonic platform owing to its electro-optic and nonlinear optical properties along with ultralow-loss and high-confinement nanophotonic lithium niobate waveguides fabricated by the complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS)-compatible microstructure engineering of LNOI. Furthermore, ferroelectric domain engineering in combination with nanophotonic waveguides on LNOI is gradually accelerating the development of integrated nonlinear photonics, which will play an important role in quantum technologies because of its ability to be integrated with the generation, processing, and auxiliary detection of the quantum states of light. Herein, we review the recent progress in CMOS-compatible microstructure engineering and domain engineering of LNOI for integrated lithium niobate photonics involving photonic modulation and nonlinear photonics. We believe that the great progress in integrated photonics on LNOI will lead to a new generation of techniques. Thus, there remains an urgent need for efficient methods for the preparation of LNOI that are suitable for large-scale and low-cost manufacturing of integrated photonic devices and systems.

Athermal lithium niobate microresonator

Lithium niobate (LN), possessing wide transparent window, strong electro-optic effect, and large optical nonlinearity, is an ideal material platform for integrated photonics application. Microring resonators are particularly suitable as integrated photonic components, given their flexibility of device engineering and their potential for large-scale integration. However, the susceptibility to temperature fluctuation has become a major challenge for their implementation in a practical environment. Here, we demonstrate an athermal LN microring resonator. By cladding an x-cut LN microring resonator with a thin layer of titanium oxide, we are able to completely eliminate the first-order thermo-optic coefficient (TOC) of cavity resonance right at room temperature (20^°C), leaving only a small residual quadratic temperature dependence with a second-order TOC of only 0.37 pm/K². It corresponds to a temperature-induced resonance wavelength shift within 0.33 nm over a large operating temperature range of (-10 - 50)^°C that is one order of magnitude smaller than a bare LN microring resonator. Moreover, the TiO₂-cladded LN microring resonator is able to preserve high optical quality, with an intrinsic optical Q of 5.8 × 10⁵ that is only about 11% smaller than that of a bare LN resonator. The flexibility of thermo-optic engineering, high optical quality, and device fabrication compatibility show great promise of athermal LN/TiO₂ hybrid devices for practical applications, elevating the potential importance of LN photonic integrated circuits for future communication, sensing, nonlinear and quantum photonics.

A heterogeneously integrated silicon photonic/lithium niobate travelling wave electro-optic modulator

Silicon photonics is a platform that enables densely integrated photonic components and systems and integration with electronic circuits. Depletion mode modulators designed on this platform suffer from a fundamental frequency response limit due to the mobility of carriers in silicon. Lithium niobate-based modulators have demonstrated high performance, but the material is difficult to process and cannot be easily integrated with other photonic components and electronics. In this manuscript, we simultaneously take advantage of the benefits of silicon photonics and the Pockels effect in lithium niobate by heterogeneously integrating silicon photonic-integrated circuits with thin-film lithium niobate samples. We demonstrate the most CMOS-compatible thin-film lithium niobate modulator to date, which has electro-optic 3 dB bandwidths of 30.6 GHz and half-wave voltages of 6.7 V×cm. These modulators are fabricated entirely in CMOS facilities, with the exception of the bonding of a thin-film lithium niobate sample post fabrication, and require no etching of lithium niobate.

Actively-monitored periodic-poling in thin-film lithium niobate photonic waveguides with ultrahigh nonlinear conversion efficiency of 4600 %W-1cm-2

Chip-scale implementations of second-order nonlinear optics benefit from increased optical confinement that can lead to nonlinear interaction strengths that are orders of magnitude higher than bulk free-space configurations. Here, we present thin-film-based ultraefficient periodically-poled lithium niobate nonlinear waveguides, leveraging actively-monitored ferroelectric domain reversal engineering and nanophotonic confinement. The devices exhibit up to 4600 %W^-1cm^-2 conversion efficiency for second-harmonic generation, pumped around 1540 nm. In addition, we measure broadband sum-frequency generation across multiple telecom bands, from 1460 to 1620 nm. As an immediate application of the devices, we use pulses of picojoule-level energy to demonstrate second-harmonic generation with over 10% conversion in a 0.6-mm-long waveguide. Our ultracompact and highly efficient devices address growing demands in integrated-photonic frequency conversion, frequency metrology, atomic physics, and quantum optics, while offering a coherent link between the telecom and visible bands.

Electro-Optic Modulation in Hybrid Metal Halide Perovskites

Rapid and efficient conversion of electrical signals to optical signals is needed in telecommunications and data network interconnection. The linear electro-optic (EO) effect in noncentrosymmetric materials offers a pathway to such conversion. Conventional inorganic EO materials make on-chip integration challenging, while organic nonlinear molecules suffer from thermodynamic molecular disordering that decreases the EO coefficient of the material. It has been posited that hybrid metal halide perovskites could potentially combine the advantages of inorganic materials (stable crystal orientation) with those of organic materials (solution processing). Here, layered metal halide perovskites are reported and investigated for in-plane birefringence and linear electro-optic response. Phenylmethylammonium lead chloride (PMA₂ PbCl₄ ) crystals are grown that exhibit a noncentrosymmetric space group. Birefringence measurements and Raman spectroscopy confirm optical and structural anisotropy in the material. By applying an electric field on the crystal surface, the linear EO effect in PMA₂ PbCl₄ is reported and its EO coefficient is determined to be 1.40 pm V^-1 . This is the first demonstration of this effect in hybrid metal halide perovskites, materials that feature both highly ordered crystalline structures and solution processability. The in-plane birefringence and electro-optic response reveal that layered perovskite crystals could be further explored for potential applications in polarizing optics and EO modulation.

Bloch surface waves at the telecommunication wavelength with lithium niobate as the top layer for integrated optics

Lithium niobate (LN)-based devices are widely used in integrated and nonlinear optics. This material is robust and resistive to high temperatures, which makes the LN-based devices stable, but challenging to fabricate. In this work, we report on the design, manufacturing, and characterization of engineered dielectric media with thin-film LN (TFLN) on top for the coupling and propagation of electromagnetic surface waves at telecommunication wavelengths. The designed one-dimensional photonic crystal (1DPhC) sustains Bloch surface waves (BSWs) at the multilayer-air interface at 1550 nm wavelength with a propagation detected over a distance of 3 mm. The working wavelength and improved BSW propagation parameters open the way for exploration of nonlinear properties of BSW-based devices. It is also expected that these novel devices potentially would be able to modify BSW propagation and coupling by external thermal-electrical stimuli due to the improved quality of the TFLN top layer of 1DPhC.

Thin-film lithium niobate-on-insulator waveguides fabricated on silicon wafer by room-temperature bonding method with silicon nanoadhesive layer

Lithium niobate-on-insulator (LNOI) waveguides fabricated on a silicon wafer using a room-temperature bonding method have potential application as Si-based high-density photonic integrated circuits. A surface-activated bonding method using a Si nanoadhesive layer was found to produce a strong bond between LN and SiO₂/Si at room temperature, which is sufficient to withstand both the wafer-thinning (LN thickness <5 μm) and surface micromachining processes used to form the strongly confined waveguides. In addition, the bond quality and optical propagation characteristics of the resulting LNOI waveguides were investigated, and the applicability of this bonding method to low-loss LNOI waveguide fabrication is discussed. The propagation loss for the ridged waveguide was approximately 2 dB/cm at a wavelength of 1550 nm, which was sufficiently low for the device application. The results of the present study will be of significant use in the development of fabrication techniques for waveguides with any bonded materials using this room-temperature bonding method, and not only LN core/SiO₂ cladding waveguides.

Vertical mode transition in hybrid lithium niobate and silicon nitride-based photonic integrated circuit structures

This Letter presents an optical mode transition structure for use in Si₃N₄/LiNbO₃-based hybrid photonics. A gradual modal transition from a Si₃N₄ waveguide to a hybrid Si₃N₄/LiNbO₃ waveguide is achieved by etching a terrace structure into the sub-micrometer thick LiNbO₃ film. The etched film is then bonded to predefined low pressure chemical vapor deposition Si₃N₄ waveguides. Herein we analyze hybrid optical devices both with and without the aforementioned mode transition terrace structure. Experimental and simulated results indicate that inclusion of the terrace significantly improves mode transition compared to an abrupt transition, i.e., a 1.78 dB lower mode transition loss compared to the abrupt transition. The proposed transition structure is also applied to the design of hybrid Si₃N₄-LiNbO₃ micro-ring resonators. A high-quality factor (Q) resonator is demonstrated with the terrace transition which mitigates undesired resonances.

Plate-slot polymer waveguide modulator on silicon-on-insulator

Electro-optic (EO) modulators are vital for efficient "electrical to optical" transitions and high-speed optical interconnects. In this work, we applied an EO polymer to demonstrate modulators on silicon-on-insulator substrates. The fabricated Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) and ring resonator consist of a Si and TiO₂ slot, in which the EO polymer was embedded to realize a low-driving and large bandwidth modulation. The designed optical and electrical constructions are able to provide a highly concentrated TM mode with low propagation loss and effective EO properties. The fabricated MZI modulator shows a π-voltage-length product of 0.66 V·cm and a 3-dB bandwidth of 31 GHz. The measured EO activity is advantageous to exploit the ring modulator with a resonant tunability of 0.065 nm/V and a 3-dB modulation bandwidth up to 13 GHz.

Electric field sensing with liquid-crystal-filled slot waveguide microring resonators

We consider the operation principles of the sensor of an external electric field on the bases of microring resonators that consist of bent-strip waveguides with vertical or horizontal slots filled with nematic liquid crystal. The mode-field distribution and dispersion parameters of the bent-slot waveguides are calculated by using the algorithm based on the method of lines. The influence of the waveguide and microresonator structure (slot width, position and orientation, microresonator radius, etc.) on the sensor sensitivity is analyzed.

Optical Microresonators for Sensing and Transduction: A Materials Perspective

Optical microresonators confine light to a particular microscale trajectory, are exquisitely sensitive to their microenvironment, and offer convenient readout of their optical properties. Taken together, this is an immensely attractive combination that makes optical microresonators highly effective as sensors and transducers. Meanwhile, advances in material science, fabrication techniques, and photonic sensing strategies endow optical microresonators with new functionalities, unique transduction mechanisms, and in some cases, unparalleled sensitivities. In this progress report, the operating principles of these sensors are reviewed, and different methods of signal transduction are evaluated. Examples are shown of how choice of materials must be suited to the analyte, and how innovations in fabrication and sensing are coupled together in a mutually reinforcing cycle. A tremendously broad range of capabilities of microresonator sensors is described, from electric and magnetic field sensing to mechanical sensing, from single-molecule detection to imaging and spectroscopy, from operation at high vacuum to in live cells. Emerging sensing capabilities are highlighted and put into context in the field. Future directions are imagined, where the diverse capabilities laid out are combined and advances in scalability and integration are implemented, leading to the creation of a sensor unparalleled in sensitivity and information content.

Ultrahigh Q whispering gallery mode electro-optic resonators on a silicon photonic chip

Crystalline whispering gallery mode (WGM) electro-optic resonators made of LiNbO₃ and LiTaO₃ are critical for a wide range of applications in nonlinear and quantum optics, as well as RF photonics, due to their remarkably ultrahigh Q(>10⁸) and large electro-optic coefficient. Achieving efficient coupling of these resonators to planar on-chip optical waveguides is essential for any high-yield and robust practical applications. However, it has been very challenging to demonstrate such coupling while preserving the ultrahigh Q properties of the resonators. Here, we show how the silicon photonic platform can overcome this long-standing challenge. Silicon waveguides with appropriate designs enable efficient and strong coupling to these WGM electro-optic resonators. We discuss various integration architectures of these resonators onto a silicon chip and experimentally demonstrate critical coupling of a planar Si waveguide and an ultrahigh QLiTaO₃ resonator (Q∼10⁸). Our results show a promising path for widespread and practical applications of these resonators on a silicon photonic platform.

Design of nanobeam photonic crystal resonators for a silicon-on-lithium-niobate platform

We outline the design for a photonic crystal resonator made in a hybrid Silicon/Lithium Niobate material system. Using the index contrast between silicon and lithium niobate, it is possible to guide and confine photonic resonances in a thin film of silicon bonded on top of lithium niobate. Quality factors greater than 10⁶ at optical wavelength scale mode volumes are achievable. We show that patterning electrodes on such a system can yield an electro-optic coupling rate of 0.6 GHz/V (4 pm/V).

Lightwave Circuits in Lithium Niobate through Hybrid Waveguides with Silicon Photonics

We demonstrate a photonic waveguide technology based on a two-material core, in which light is controllably and repeatedly transferred back and forth between sub-micron thickness crystalline layers of Si and LN bonded to one another, where the former is patterned and the latter is not. In this way, the foundry-based wafer-scale fabrication technology for silicon photonics can be leveraged to form lithium-niobate based integrated optical devices. Using two different guided modes and an adiabatic mode transition between them, we demonstrate a set of building blocks such as waveguides, bends, and couplers which can be used to route light underneath an unpatterned slab of LN, as well as outside the LN-bonded region, thus enabling complex and compact lightwave circuits in LN alongside Si photonics with fabrication ease and low cost.

Disposable photonic integrated circuits for evanescent wave sensors by ultra-high volume roll-to-roll method

Flexible photonic integrated circuit technology is an emerging field expanding the usage possibilities of photonics, particularly in sensor applications, by enabling the realization of conformable devices and introduction of new alternative production methods. Here, we demonstrate that disposable polymeric photonic integrated circuit devices can be produced in lengths of hundreds of meters by ultra-high volume roll-to-roll methods on a flexible carrier. Attenuation properties of hundreds of individual devices were measured confirming that waveguides with good and repeatable performance were fabricated. We also demonstrate the applicability of the devices for the evanescent wave sensing of ambient refractive index. The production of integrated photonic devices using ultra-high volume fabrication, in a similar manner as paper is produced, may inherently expand methods of manufacturing low-cost disposable photonic integrated circuits for a wide range of sensor applications.

Silica microwire-based interferometric electric field sensor

Silica microwire, as an optical waveguide whose diameter is close to or smaller than the wavelength of the guided light, is of great interest because it exhibits a number of excellent properties such as tight confinement, large evanescent fields, and great configurability. Here, we report a silica microwire-based compact photonic sensor for real-time detection of high electric field. This device contains an interferometer with propylene carbonate cladding. Based on the Kerr electro-optic effect of propylene carbonate, the applied intensive transient electric field can change the refractive index of propylene carbonate, which shifts the interferometric fringe. Therefore, the electric field could be demodulated by monitoring the fringe shift. The sensor was successfully used to detect alternating electric field with frequency of 50 Hz and impulse electric field with duration time of 200 μs. This work lays a foundation for future applications in electric field sensing.

Lanthanide-Assisted Deposition of Strongly Electro-optic PZT Thin Films on Silicon: Toward Integrated Active Nanophotonic Devices

The electro-optical properties of lead zirconate titanate (PZT) thin films depend strongly on the quality and crystallographic orientation of the thin films. We demonstrate a novel method to grow highly textured PZT thin films on silicon using the chemical solution deposition (CSD) process. We report the use of ultrathin (5-15 nm) lanthanide (La, Pr, Nd, Sm) based intermediate layers for obtaining preferentially (100) oriented PZT thin films. X-ray diffraction measurements indicate preferentially oriented intermediate Ln2O2CO3 layers providing an excellent lattice match with the PZT thin films grown on top. The XRD and scanning electron microscopy measurements reveal that the annealed layers are dense, uniform, crack-free and highly oriented (>99.8%) without apparent defects or secondary phases. The EDX and HRTEM characterization confirm that the template layers act as an efficient diffusion barrier and form a sharp interface between the substrate and the PZT. The electrical measurements indicate a dielectric constant of ∼650, low dielectric loss of ∼0.02, coercive field of 70 kV/cm, remnant polarization of 25 μC/cm(2), and large breakdown electric field of 1000 kV/cm. Finally, the effective electro-optic coefficients of the films are estimated with a spectroscopic ellipsometer measurement, considering the electric field induced variations in the phase reflectance ratio. The electro-optic measurements reveal excellent linear effective pockels coefficients of 110 to 240 pm/V, which makes the CSD deposited PZT thin film an ideal candidate for Si-based active integrated nanophotonic devices.

A review of molecular beam epitaxy of ferroelectric BaTiO3 films on Si, Ge and GaAs substrates and their applications

SrTiO3 epitaxial growth by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) on silicon has opened up the route to the monolithic integration of various complex oxides on the complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor silicon platform. Among functional oxides, ferroelectric perovskite oxides offer promising perspectives to improve or add functionalities on-chip. We review the growth by MBE of the ferroelectric compound BaTiO3 on silicon (Si), germanium (Ge) and gallium arsenide (GaAs) and we discuss the film properties in terms of crystalline structure, microstructure and ferroelectricity. Finally, we review the last developments in two areas of interest for the applications of BaTiO3 films on silicon, namely integrated photonics, which benefits from the large Pockels effect of BaTiO3, and low power logic devices, which may benefit from the negative capacitance of the ferroelectric.

Highly linear ring modulator from hybrid silicon and lithium niobate

We present a highly linear ring modulator from the bonding of ion-sliced x-cut lithium niobate onto a silicon ring resonator. The third order intermodulation distortion spurious free dynamic range is measured to be 98.1 dB Hz(2/3) and 87.6 dB Hz(2/3) at 1 GHz and 10 GHz, respectively. The linearity is comparable to a reference lithium niobate Mach-Zehnder interferometer modulator operating at quadrature and over an order of magnitude greater than silicon ring modulators based on plasma dispersion effect. Compact modulators for analog optical links that exploit the second order susceptibility of lithium niobate on the silicon platform are envisioned.

Compensating thermal drift of hybrid silicon and lithium niobate ring resonances

We present low-power compensation of thermal drift of resonance wavelengths in hybrid silicon and lithium niobate ring resonators based on the linear electro-optic effect. Fabricated devices demonstrate a resonance wavelength tunability of 12.5  pm/V and a tuning range of 1 nm. A capacitive geometry and low thermal sensitivity result in the compensation of 17°C of temperature variation using tuning powers at sub-nanowatt levels. The method establishes a route for stabilizing high-quality factor resonators in chip-scale integrated photonics subject to temperature variations.

Temperature sensor based on a hybrid ITO-silica resonant cavity

Integrated optical devices comprised of multiple material systems are able to achieve unique performance characteristics, enabling applications in sensing and in telecommunications. Due to ease of fabrication, the majority of previous work has focused on polymer-dielectric or polymer-semiconductor systems. However, the environmental stability of polymers is limited. In the present work, a hybrid device comprised of an indium tin oxide (ITO) coating on a silicon dioxide toroidal resonant cavity is fabricated. Finite element method simulations of the optical field in the multi-material device are performed, and the optical mode profile is significantly altered by the high index film. The quality factor is also measured and is material loss limited. Additionally, its performance as a temperature sensor is characterized. Due to the high thermo-optic coefficient of ITO and the localization of the optical field in the ITO layer, the hybrid temperature sensor demonstrates a nearly 3-fold improvement in performance over the conventional silica device.

Applying of microwave asymmetrical double-ridged waveguide for measuring of the integrated optical electrodeless electric field sensor sensitivity

We present a new method for investigation of sensitivity of the integrated optical electrodeless electric field sensor. This method is based on a compact microwave asymmetrical double-ridged waveguide with regular inhomogeneities. Small dimensions of the waveguide along with medium power of the microwave generator produce a strong electric field. The efficiency of the presented experimental unit was verified in the course of testing of the real integrated optical electrodeless electric field sensor (E-sensor).

12.5 pm/V hybrid silicon and lithium niobate optical microring resonator with integrated electrodes

We present a silicon microring resonator with a lithium niobate top cladding and integrated tuning electrodes. Submicrometer thin films of z-cut lithium niobate are bonded to silicon microring resonators via benzocyclobutene. Integrated electrodes are incorporated to confine voltage controlled electric fields within the lithium niobate thin film. The electrode design utilizes thin film metal electrodes and an optically transparent electrode wherein the silicon waveguide core serves as both an optical waveguide medium and as a conductive electrode medium. The hybrid material system combines the electro-optic functionality of lithium niobate with the high index contrast of silicon waveguides, enabling compact low tuning voltage microring resonators. Optical characterization of fabricated devices results in a measured loaded quality factor of 11,500 and a free spectral range of 7.15 nm in the infrared. The demonstrated tunability is 12.5 pm/V, which is over an order of magnitude greater than electrode-free designs.

Optical electric-field sensor based on angular optical bias using single β-BaB2O4 crystal

A novel optical electric-field sensor is proposed and demonstrated in experiment by use of a single beta barium borate (β-BaB2O4, BBO) crystal. The optical sensing unit is only composed of one BBO crystal and two polarizers. An optical phase bias of 0.5π is provided by using natural birefringence in the BBO crystal itself. A small angle (e.g., 0.6°) between the sensing light beam and principal axis of the crystal is required in order to produce the above optical bias. Thus the BBO crystal is used as the electric-field-sensing element and quarter waveplate. The ac electric field in the range of (1.4-703.2) kV/m has been measured with measurement sensitivity of 1.39 mV/(kV/m) and nonlinear error of 0.6%. Compared with lithium niobate crystal used as an electric-field sensor, main advantages of the BBO crystal include higher measurement sensitivity, compact configuration, and no ferroelectric ringing effect.

A strong electro-optically active lead-free ferroelectric integrated on silicon

The development of silicon photonics could greatly benefit from the linear electro-optical properties, absent in bulk silicon, of ferroelectric oxides, as a novel way to seamlessly connect the electrical and optical domain. Of all oxides, barium titanate exhibits one of the largest linear electro-optical coefficients, which has however not yet been explored for thin films on silicon. Here we report on the electro-optical properties of thin barium titanate films epitaxially grown on silicon substrates. We extract a large effective Pockels coefficient of r(eff) = 148 pm V(-1), which is five times larger than in the current standard material for electro-optical devices, lithium niobate. We also reveal the tensor nature of the electro-optical properties, as necessary for properly designing future devices, and furthermore unambiguously demonstrate the presence of ferroelectricity. The integration of electro-optical active films on silicon could pave the way towards power-efficient, ultra-compact integrated devices, such as modulators, tuning elements and bistable switches.

Heterogeneous lithium niobate photonics on silicon substrates

A platform for the realization of tightly-confined lithium niobate photonic devices and circuits on silicon substrates is reported based on wafer bonding and selective oxidation of refractory metals. The heterogeneous photonic platform is employed to demonstrate high-performance lithium niobate microring optical resonators and Mach-Zehnder optical modulators. A quality factor of ~7.2 × 10⁴ is measured in the microresonators, and a half-wave voltage-length product of 4 V.cm and an extinction ratio of 20 dB is measured in the modulators.