60 GHz Polymer Modulators for Millimeter Wave Analog Photonic Links

Pacific Wave Industries proposes the design of a 60 GHz push-pull Mach-Zehnder polymer modulator exhibiting a DC Vp of 5 volts. The proposed device will be fabricated from our PC/CLD material system, which exhibits several advantageous device properties.This proposed structure incorporates Ag electrodes for the novel RF modulator drive circuit, the higher conductivity of Ag allows a 60 GHz bandwidth (3 dB point) with reasonable RF driving voltages. The full potential bandwidth of the device will beexploited by the design and implementation of millimeter wave coplanar waveguide to microstrip line transitions.The proposed device will significantly impact high performance millimeter wave optical links which have stringent demands on modulator performance. Preliminary investigations of the impact of the proposed device on link performance are found in thisproposal, with the details outlined as part of the tasks.This Phase I project will produce polymer amplitude modulators with electrical bandwidths of 60 GHz. These cost effective devices, with relatively low half-wave voltage (Vp) and ultra high bandwidth will have an immediate impact on the development of highperformance RF links. The ability to reduce the cost of analog optical millimeter wave links and to improve their performance will allow its implementation for huge potential markets.