Abstract

Single mode optical waveguides confine optical radiation to the dimensions of the waveguide with relatively low loss over distances of tens of thousands of wavelengths. Over these distances the dispersion of the waveguide has negligible effect on signals of less than 10⁺¹³ Hz bandwidth--picosecond pulses can propagate with no distortion. On the other hand, µ-wave drives of moderate power may produce significant modulation of the optical signals. This is the basis for hybrid µ-wave-optical waveguide systems designed for high speed modulation and sampling. Using a waveguide coupler, Izutsu et al.^[1] and Kubota et al.^[2] have built broadband modulators, extending to 11 GHz, with a µ-wave transmission line that propagates a modulation signal synchronously with the optical waveguide. Marcatili^[3] has proposed a high speed sampler in which a large amplitude µ-wave drive modulates the transfer from one guide to the other in coupled waveguides so as to sample the optical wave in the first guide with a very narrow window function, the width of the window being determined by the rate of change of the µ-wave voltage at the zero crossing.

© 1982 Optical Society of America