Investigation of the modulation efficiency of InGaAsP/InP ridge waveguide phase modulators at 1.55 mu m

Abstract

Single-mode P-p-n-N InGaAsP/InP ridge waveguide phase modulators have been fabricated and investigated at 1.55 mum. The ridge waveguide structure has been designed using a finite element method, grown by metal-organic-chemical-vapor-deposition (MOCVD), and fabricated by chemical wet etching. Their phase modulation characteristics were measured by using the Fabry-Perot resonance method with a tunable laser. The measured phase modulation efficiency for a 2-mm-long device was determined to be as high as 34 deg/V.mm for the TE mode. This value corresponds to the highest experimental electrooptic modulation efficiency reported thus far for InGaAsP/InP DH-type phase modulators at the said wavelength region.