Terahertz Optical Modulator

Superconducting light modulator is proposed which uses the physical properties of superconductors to greatly increase the transmission capacity of currently installed fiber optic lines Increased transmission capacity is required to make new services, such as video-on-demand, widely available at a reasonable cost The key inhibitor of fiber transmission capacity is the rate at which optical data can be modulated Current state of the art optical modulation techniques include direct modulation, electro-absorption modulation, and Mach-Zender modulation These modulation techniques are limited to transmission rates of 20 GHz Alternatively, a layer of superconducting material can be placed in the path of an optical beam and used to modulate light at THz speeds. Superconducting materials are non-transmitting in the superconducting state and partially transmitting in the non-superconducting state. Superconducting materials can be switched between these states at rates up to 1000 GHz using electrical current. A superconducting switch based on these principles has the potential for modulating light 50 times faster than the state of the art. The goal of the proposed work is to construct a simple device to demonstrate the feasibility of this superconducting modulator. The proposed modulator increases the transmission capacity of currently installed fiber optic lines making high bandwidth services available without installing new optical fiber. Based on the strong interest of telecommunications companies such as US WEST and Southwestern Bell commercialization of this technology is very likely.