Integrated Thermally Tuned Mach-Zehnder Interferometer in Z-Cut Lithium Niobate Thin Film

Abstract

We propose and demonstrate a type of highly efficient tunable Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) in Z-cut lithium niobate thin film (TFLN) based on the thermo-optical effect. By placing the electrode directly above the TFLN waveguide, a more uniform and higher heat distribution was obtained, compared with the conventional horizontal structure. Both the principle and design strategies of the proposed scheme are described. The process flow of the device fabrication is demonstrated in Z-cut TFLN. The measured static results accord well with the simulations. About 0.121 nm/V tuning efficiency is observed, which is nearly double the tuning efficiency based on the electro-optic effect, and may prove useful when high switching speed is not the primary consideration. The presented thermo-optic tuning scheme can be extended to other scenarios easily and may satisfy many different application requirements in integrated lithium niobate photonics (LNPs).