RF and mm-Wave Photonics at Sandia National Laboratories Page: 1 of 9
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d.
Sandia National Laboratories
P.O. Box 5800, Albuquerque, NM 87185-0603
ABSTRACTRECEIVED
JUL 2 1 1999
0S8TIRF and mm-wave photonic devices and circuits have been developed at Sandia National Laboratories for applications ranging
from RF optical data links to optical generation of mm-wave frequencies. This talk will explore recent high-speed photonics
technology developments at Sandia including: 1) A monolithic optical integrated circuit for all-optical generation of mm-
waves. Using integrated mode-locked diode lasers, amplifiers, and detectors, frequencies between 30 GHz and 90 GHz are
generated by a single monolithic (Al,Ga)As optical circuit less than 2mm in its largest dimension. 2) Development of
polarization-maintaining, low-insertion-loss, low v-pi, Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) modulators with DC-to-
potentially-K-band modulation bandwidth. New low-loss polarization-maintaining waveguide designs using binary alloys
have been shown to-reduce polarization crosstalk in undoped (Al,Ga)As waveguides, yielding high extinction ratio (>40dB)
and low on-chip loss (<6dB) in Mach-Zehnder interferometers. RF drive voltage is reduced through use of 45mm-active
length devices with modulator sensitivity, v-pi, less than 3V.
Keywords: terahertz and gigahertz photonic components, integrated optics, mach-zehnder interferometer, diode laser, mode-
locking, optical waveguide, AlGaAs, mm-wave, optoelectronic integrated circuit, OEIC, optical modulator
1. INTRODUCTION
Sandia National Laboratories has a wide variety of interests in RF and mm-wave photonic devices and circuits. This
paper summarizes a few of the recent projects with emphasis on both new all-optical functionality and hard-won refinements
making (AI,Ga)As photonic integrated circuits (PICs) viable in real-world systems applications. Three different devices will
be discussed: 1) A monolithic optical integrated circuit using integrated mode-locked diode lasers, amplifiers, and detectors for
all-optical generation of mm-waves.1 2) Development of polarization-maintaining. low-insertion-loss, low v-pi, Mach-
Zehnder interferometer modulators with DC-to-potentially-K-band modulation bandwidth. New low-loss polarization-
maintaining waveguide designs using binary alloys have been shown to reduce polarization crosstalk in undoped (AI,Ga)As
waveguides, yielding high extinction ratio (>40dB) and low on-chip loss (<6dB) in Mach-Zehnder interferometers. 3)
Adiabatic mode transforming tapered waveguides for extremely efficient coupling of light into and out of high-speed
semiconductor optical waveguide circuits and devices. "
2. PIC FOR ALL-OPTICAL MILLIMETER-WAVE SIGNAL GENERATIONGeneration of mm-wave signals
presently requires descrtet negative
differential resistance diodes coupled to a
metallic waveguide cavity resonant at the
desired frequency. At frequencies near 100
GHz, the output power and efficiency of
these sources is low (typically 10 mW
output power and 1% efficiency); and
higher frequencies are only accessible by
frequency mixing. Demonstration of
passive mode-locking of semiconductorT
IIamplifier
ring laser waveguide photodiode
L
transmission lineprobe pads
ring lasers at high pulse repetition rates2 Figure 1: Schematic of actual mm-wave generation circuit.
suggests the possibility of a photonic
integrated circuit comprising a mode-locked ring laser and traveling-wave photodiode3-5 (TWPD) for direct generation of
mm-wave electrical signals. Such a PIC could be much more compact and efficient parei to current technologyand
r.A-- ~ y--a'..i a7- ------------------------ ------ ---- - -- ------. ! ~v".j ;RF and mm-wave photonics at Sandia National Laboratories
G. Allen Vawter and Charles SullivanI 5o pm saturable asre
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Vawter, G. A. & Sullivan, C. RF and mm-Wave Photonics at Sandia National Laboratories, article, July 8, 1999; Albuquerque, New Mexico. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc791735/m1/1/: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.