Integrated Optical Circuit (IOC) with Reduced Half-Wave Voltage

In order to meet the demand for shrinking package volumes in strategic-grade inertial sensors, the size of the integrated optic circuit (IOC) must be reduced. This key component of the system is limited in size by the length of the crystal substrate required to produce a Pi phase shift. Therefore, Lynntech proposes to fabricate annealed proton exchange (APE) waveguides in a thin film lithium niobate (TFLN) substrate for reduced SWaP. Using TFLN as the substrate, the optical mode, as well as the electric field used to produce the phase shift, can be more tightly confined to allow for a much lower half-wave voltage.