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Abstract Integrated electro-optic (EO) modulators are fundamental photonics components with utility in domains ranging from digital communications to quantum information processing. At telecommunication wavelengths, thin-film lithium niobate modulators exhibit state-of-the-art performance in voltage-length product (VπL), optical loss, and EO bandwidth. However, applications in optical imaging, optogenetics, and quantum science generally require devices operating in the visible-to-near-infrared (VNIR) wavelength range. Here, we realize VNIR amplitude and phase modulators featuringVπL’s of sub-1 V ⋅ cm, low optical loss, and high bandwidth EO response. Our Mach-Zehnder modulators exhibit aVπLas low as 0.55 V ⋅ cm at 738 nm, on-chip optical loss of ~0.7 dB/cm, and EO bandwidths in excess of 35 GHz. Furthermore, we highlight the opportunities these high-performance modulators offer by demonstrating integrated EO frequency combs operating at VNIR wavelengths, with over 50 lines and tunable spacing, and frequency shifting of pulsed light beyond its intrinsic bandwidth (up to 7x Fourier limit) by an EO shearing method.
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A hybrid solution for spatial light modulators with a large space-bandwidth product: opinion
Increasing the space-bandwidth product of spatial light modulators incurs severe issues in terms of power consumption, mutual crosstalk, and control signal wiring. In this opinion article, we propose a novel system to overcome these challenges by marrying energy-efficient modulators in photonic integrated circuits (PICs) and a meta-optical beam aggregator. This hybrid approach can significantly improve the space-bandwidth product, theoretically up to 1013Hz · pixel, which is several orders of magnitude higher than the state-of-the-art.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2003509
- PAR ID:
- 10436925
- Publisher / Repository:
- Optical Society of America
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Optical Materials Express
- Volume:
- 13
- Issue:
- 8
- ISSN:
- 2159-3930
- Format(s):
- Medium: X Size: Article No. 2416
- Size(s):
- Article No. 2416
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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