Lithium Niobate Thin Films Research Articles

Poling-assisted hydrofluoric acid wet etching of thin-film lithium niobate.

Thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN) has been extensively investigated for a wide range of applications due to continuous advancements in its fabrication methods. The recent emergence of high-fidelity ferroelectric domain poling of TFLN provides an opportunity for achieving a precise pattern control of ferroelectric domains and a subsequent pattern transfer to the TFLN layer using hydrofluoric acid (HF). In this work, we present, to the best of our knowledge, the first demonstration of z-cut TFLN microdisks using a poling-assisted HF wet etching approach. By applying intense electric fields, we are able to induce a domain inversion in the TFLN with a designed microdisk pattern. A HF solution is subsequently utilized to transfer the inverted domain pattern to the TFLN layer with the selective etching of -z LN, ultimately revealing the microdisks.

Arbitrary electro-optic bandwidth and frequency control in lithium niobate optical resonators.

In situ tunable photonic filters and memories are important for emerging quantum and classical optics technologies. However, most photonic devices have fixed resonances and bandwidths determined at the time of fabrication. Here we present an in situ tunable optical resonator on thin-film lithium niobate. By leveraging the linear electro-optic effect, we demonstrate widely tunable control over resonator frequency and bandwidth on two different devices. We observe up to ∼50 × tuning in the bandwidth over ∼50 V with linear frequency control of ∼230 MHz/V. We also develop a closed-form model predicting the tuning behavior of the device. This paves the way for rapid phase and amplitude control over light transmitted through our device.

Integrated self-injection-locked narrow linewidth laser based on thin-film lithium niobate.

Narrow linewidth lasers have a wide range of applications in the fields of coherent optical communications, atomic clocks, and measurement. Lithium niobate material possesses excellent electro-optic and thermo-optic properties, making it an ideal photonic integration platform for a new generation. The light source is a crucial element in large-scale photonic integration. Therefore, it is essential to develop integrated narrow linewidth lasers based on low-loss LNOI. This study is based on the multimode race-track type add-drop microring resonator with multimode interferometric coupler (MMRA-MRR) of the DFB laser self-injection-locked, to achieve the narrowing of linewidth to the laser. The microring external cavity was used to narrow the linewidth of the laser to 2.5 kHz. The output power of the laser is 3.18 mW, and the side-mode suppression ratio is 60 dB. This paper presents an integrated low-noise, narrow-linewidth laser based on thin-film lithium niobate material for the communication band. This is significant for achieving all-optical device on-chip integration of lithium niobate material in the future. It has great potential for use in high-speed coherent optical communication.

Efficient Parametric Frequency Conversions in Chalcogenide‐Loaded Etchless Thin‐Film Lithium Niobate Waveguides

AbstractParametric frequency conversion based on second‐order nonlinearity (χ(2)) is critical in many applications. The implementation of second‐order nonlinearity on integrated photonic platforms, in particular on the lithium niobate‐on‐insulator platform, has attracted considerable interest due to its low power consumption and small footprint. However, high‐efficiency on‐chip parametric frequency conversion remains challenging due to fabrication complexity. Here, efficient parametric frequency conversions via modal phase matching (MPM) in etchless thin‐film lithium niobate (TFLN)‐chalcogenide glass (ChG) hybrid waveguides fabricated by a simplified process free from domain engineering and etching of TFLN are proposed and demonstrated. An overall conversion efficiency of 25.55% W−1 for second‐harmonic generation is experimentally achieved in a 1‐cm‐long waveguide, significantly over the reach of the etchless counterparts and in the same order of magnitude as those of the etched cases based on MPM. Broadband frequency conversion with a 3‐dB bandwidth of 57 nm is achieved based on cascaded second‐harmonic generation and difference‐frequency generation via MPM in a nanophotonic waveguide using a continuous‐wave pump. This device shows great promise for efficient on‐chip parametric frequency conversion, enabling a wide range of photonic applications, and paving the way for further integration with various advanced ChG photonic devices toward on‐chip multifunctional microsystems.

Thin-film lithium niobate electro-optic isolator fabricated by photolithography assisted chemo-mechanical etching.

We report an electro-optic isolator fabricated on thin-film lithium niobate by photolithography-assisted chemo-mechanical etching that shows an isolation of 39.50 dB and an overall fiber-to-fiber loss of 2.6 dB.

High-speed mid-infrared Mach–Zehnder electro-optical modulators in lithium niobate thin film on sapphire

Abstract In this study, high-speed mid-infrared Mach–Zehnder electro-optical modulators in x-cut lithium niobate (LN) thin film on sapphire were designed, simulated, and analyzed. The main optical parameters of three types of Mach–Zehnder modulators (MZMs) (residual LN with thickness of 0, 0.5, and 1 μm) were simulated and calculated, namely, the single-mode conditions, bending loss, separation distance between electrode edge and lithium niobate waveguide edge, optical field distribution, and half-wave voltage–length product. The main radio frequency (RF) parameters of these three types of MZMs, such as characteristic impedance, attenuation constant, RF effective index, and the –3 dB modulation bandwidth were calculated depending on the dimensions of the coplanar waveguide traveling-wave electrodes. The modulations with residual LN thickness of 0, 0.5, and 1 μm were calculated with bandwidths exceeding 140, 150, and 240 GHz, respectively, and the half-wave voltage–length product achieved was 22.4, 21.6, and 15.1 V cm, respectively. By optimizing RF and optical parameters, guidelines for device design are presented, and the achievable modulation bandwidth is significantly increased.

Ultra-compact electro-optic phase modulator based on a lithium niobate topological slow light waveguide.

Electro-optic modulators (EOMs) are essential devices of optical communications and quantum computing systems. In particular, ultra-compact EOMs are necessary for highly integrated photonic chips. Thin film lithium niobate materials are a promising platform for designing highly efficient EOMs. However, EOMs based on conventional waveguide structures are at a millimeter scale and challenging to scale down further, greatly hindering the capability of on-chip integration. Here, we design an EOM based on lithium niobate valley photonic crystal (VPC) structures for the first time. Due to the high effective refractive index introduced by the strong slow light effect, the EOM can achieve an ultra-compact size of 4 μm×14 μm with a half-wave voltage of 1.4 V. The EOM has a high transmittance of 0.87 in the 1068 nm because of the unique spin-valley locking effect in VPC structures. The design is fully compatible with current nanofabrication technology and immune to fabrication defects. Therefore, it opens a new possibility in designing lithium niobate electro-optic modulators and will find broad applications in optical communication and quantum photonic devices.

Relaxation of the electro-optic response in thin-film lithium niobate modulators.

Thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN) is a promising electro-optic (EO) photonics platform with high modulation bandwidth, low drive voltage, and low optical loss. However, EO modulation in TFLN is known to relax on long timescales. Instead, thermo-optic heaters are often used for stable biasing, but heaters incur challenges with cross-talk, high power, and low bandwidth. Here, we characterize the low-frequency (1 mHz to 1 MHz) EO response of TFLN modulators, investigate the root cause of EO relaxation and demonstrate methods to improve bias stability. We show that relaxation-related effects can enhance EO modulation across a frequency band spanning 1kHz to 20kHz in our devices - a counter-intuitive result that can confound measurement of half-wave voltage (V π) in TFLN modulators. We also show that EO relaxation can be slowed by more than 104-fold through control of the LN-metal interface and annealing, offering progress toward lifetime-stable EO biasing. Such robust EO biasing would enable applications for TFLN devices where cross-talk, power, and bias bandwidth are critical, such as quantum devices, high-density integrated photonics, and communications.

High-efficiency second harmonic generation in a micro-resonator on dual-layered lithium niobate.

High-quality micro-resonators on thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN) have emerged as an ideal platform for on-chip nonlinear optical applications due to their strong light confinement and excellent natural nonlinear optical properties. Here, we present high-efficiency second-harmonic generation (SHG) in micro-resonators on a TFLN based on the modal phase matching and natural quasi-phase matching. By optimizing the phase-matching conditions through thermal tuning, we demonstrate an on-chip SHG efficiency of 149,000%/W in the low power regime. Furthermore, we achieve an absolute conversion efficiency of 10.3% with a 0.3 mW pump power. Our work paves the way toward future efficient on-chip frequency conversion of classical and quantum light without the need for poling of the LN films.

The Design and Characterization of an Ultra-Compact Asymmetrical Multimode Interference Splitter on Lithium Niobate Thin Film

We propose and demonstrate a high-performance asymmetrical multimode interference splitter on X-cut lithium niobate on insulator (LNOI) with an ultra-compact size of 5.8 μm × (26.4–35.6) μm. A rectangle with a small region is removed from the upper left corner of the multimode interference (MMI) coupler to achieve a variable splitting ratio. Here, we design and characterize MMIs in six different distribution ratios ranging from 50:50 to 95:5 on a 600 nm thick LNOI. Based on the cascade structure, the linear fitting method accurately shows the device loss (~0.1–0.9 dB). Our fabricated devices demonstrate robustness across a 30 nm optical bandwidth (1535–1565 nm). In addition, we numerically simulate the Z-cut LNOI, showing that the structure corresponding to the TM mode can also achieve a good variable splitting ratio.

High-Efficiency, Large Bandwidth Grating Coupler Based on Lithium Niobate Thin Film (Invited)

High-Efficiency, Large Bandwidth Grating Coupler Based on Lithium Niobate Thin Film (Invited)

Progress of Optical Waveguide Devices in Thin Film Lithium Niobate (Invited)

Progress of Optical Waveguide Devices in Thin Film Lithium Niobate (Invited)

Optoelectronic Oscillator:From Discrete to integrated photonics on Thin Film Lithium Niobate (Invited)

Optoelectronic Oscillator:From Discrete to integrated photonics on Thin Film Lithium Niobate (Invited)

Monolithically integrated narrow-bandwidth disk laser on thin-film lithium niobate

Monolithically integrated narrow-bandwidth disk laser on thin-film lithium niobate

Investigation of Apodized Chirped Grating on Thin-film Lithium Niobate

Investigation of Apodized Chirped Grating on Thin-film Lithium Niobate

Low-loss and broadband complementary dual-output electro-optic modulator based on thin-film lithium niobate

Low-loss and broadband complementary dual-output electro-optic modulator based on thin-film lithium niobate

Epitaxial LiNbO3 growth and layer transfer for thin-film electro-optic modulator realization

The aim of the PhD project is to develop a new trend in modulation system for Exail company: thin film (<1 μm) lithium niobate (LN) electro-optic modulator. It exhibits better performance in term of bandwidth, power consumption and footprint than legacy ones [1-3]. This PhD is a cooperation between Exail photonics which is world-renowned for the performances of their electro-optic modulators and FEMTO-ST institute which can offer the possibility to grow stoichiometric LN thin film by means of direct liquid injection metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (DLI-MOCVD). This cooperation opens the possibility to obtain industrialization of optical device based on CVD LN stoichiometric layers which allow to have enhanced performances such as higher electro-optic coefficient than that of congruent compositions of commercial single crystals. Thus, all steps from MOCVD layer deposition to modulator realization can be done here in Besançon.

Low voltage visible light modulation for three colors (red, green, blue) by sputtered lithium niobate thin film

In this study, lithium niobate (LN) optical modulator devices were fabricated using cost-effective sputtered LN thin films. We successfully achieved a significantly small product of half-wave voltage and interaction electrode length (VπL) of 1.2, 1.0, and 0.75 V cm using red (λ = 638 nm), green (λ = 520 nm), and blue (λ = 473 nm) laser light, respectively. This small VπL is owing to the use of a low dielectric material of LaAlSiInOx for buffer insulator between LN waveguides and electrodes, and the change of geometrical configuration of the electrode. Thus, fabricating visible light modulators at low cost can be realized, and sputtered LN thin films can be adopted for visible light communications and consumer-based applications.

Thin Film Lithium Niobate On-Chip Integration of Multi-Dimensional Multiplexed Photonic Devices (Invited)

Thin Film Lithium Niobate On-Chip Integration of Multi-Dimensional Multiplexed Photonic Devices (Invited)

Low-loss grating coupler with a subwavelength structure on a thin-film lithium niobate substrate.

We demonstrated a low-loss O-band grating coupler on an x-cut thin-film lithium niobate substrate by implementing subwavelength and apodized structures. The subwavelength gratings were used to mitigate the refractive index discontinuity between the input taper and grating region, which was the first application of such a structure for grating coupler optimization on a thin-film lithium niobate substrate. The coupling efficiency was measured to be -1.99 dB/coupler at a wavelength of 1312.8 nm, which was the lowest loss among the reported lithium niobate grating couplers that do not use metal mirrors. The proposed design does not require metal mirrors or any additional material layers and can be easily fabricated with a single-step lithography and etching processes.