DEVELOPMENT OF ELECTRO-OPTICAL WAVEGUIDE MODULATOR
Dr.phys. Edgars Nitišs (ISSP UL)
One of the fastest growing industries in the world in recent decades has been the information technology (IT) industry. Its growth has been driven mainly by strong demand for new and faster data processing equipment and related data delivery services. Unfortunately, during the development of the IT industry, there has not been a time when the total demand for data transfer speed is lower than supply. Historically, there have been optical or electrical components at each stage of the industry's data delivery infrastructure development that limit the maximum data transfer rate. Its active components, electro-optical (EO) modulators, are expected to become one of the critical transmission rate limiting elements of the network in the near future. An EO modulator is a device in which the intensity or phase of a light is modulated by an electrical signal. Such modulation enables information to be transmitted over optical fibers in communication networks.
To date, number of organic nonlinear optical materials that could be used in the active components of high-speed EO modulators at the ISSP UL have been demonstrated. Recently, the lithography technology and workflow was introduced at the ISSP UL, which has enabled to develop submicron precision waveguide devices. This presentation will demonstrate the results of the development of an organic waveguide EO modulator, including original organic materials synthesized and studied in Latvia.
The results have been acquired with the support of VPP IMIS2 1st project "Photonics and Materials for Photonics" and Institute of Solid State Physics, University of Latvia students and young scientists project No SJZ2015/15.