Ultra Fast Fiber-Optic Modulator/Switch

Optivision, Inc. will design, demonstrate, and evaluate a method of externally modulating light in a waveguide, utilizing the surface plasmon polariton (SPP), a high-intensity two-dimensional electromagnetic wave tightly confined to a metal-dielectric interface, by coupling with quantized charge oscillations. The proposed SPP modulator device is in contact with a waveguide and consists of: 1.) a thin dielectric buffer layer; 2.) a thin metal film of a few hundred atomic layers; 3.) an electroptic material; and 4.) the outer electrode. A prototype modulator will be designed and fabricated on a single-mode fiber using a thin-film deposition technique. When the electrically-controllable refractive index of the EO layer is made equal to the effective guided mode index, complete transfer of the wavguide light to SPPs occurs through evanescent wave coupling, so that modulation is achieved by changes in the applied voltage. Unlike conventional devices, as SPP device can be rugged and low cost, broadband, operating at very high frequencies in the 850nm, 1300nm, and 1550nm wavelength windows with low insertion losses and no back reflections. The high sensitivity of SPP excitation means that such a modulator can operate at very low voltages. The feasibility of two-dimensional configurations will also be studied.