OPTICAL PHASE-MODULATING DEVICES AND METHODS FOR THEIR OPERATION

摘要

A semiconductor-based optical phase-modulating device (200) has first (250, 260) and second (252, 260) pairs of phase-fixing electrodes bracketing a pair (254, 260) of phase-modulating electrodes. The phase-fixing electrodes fix electric fields across end regions of the phase-modulating device to reduce distributed resistance and capacitance of the phase-modulating device, thereby improving the frequency response of the phase-modulating device. The optical phase-modulating device is particularly applicable to use in integrated optic Mach-Zehnder interferometers used for optical signal modulation.