• Photonics Research
  • Vol. 13, Issue 4, 817 (2025)
Heyun Tan1,2, Junwei Zhang1,4,*, Jingyi Wang1, Songnian Fu2..., Siyuan Yu1 and Xinlun Cai1,3,5,*|Show fewer author(s)
Author Affiliations
  • 1State Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Materials and Technologies, School of Electronics and Information Technology, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China
  • 2Institute of Advanced Photonics Technology, School of Information Engineering, and Key Laboratory of Photonic Technology for Integrated Sensing and Communication, Ministry of Education, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China
  • 3Hefei National Laboratory, Hefei 230088, China
  • 4e-mail: zhangjw253@mail.sysu.edu.cn
  • 5e-mail: caixlun5@mail.sysu.edu.cn
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    DOI: 10.1364/PRJ.542998 Cite this Article Set citation alerts
    Heyun Tan, Junwei Zhang, Jingyi Wang, Songnian Fu, Siyuan Yu, Xinlun Cai, "High-linearity wide-bandwidth integrated thin-film lithium niobate modulator based on a dual-optical-mode co-modulated configuration," Photonics Res. 13, 817 (2025) Copy Citation Text show less

    Abstract

    High-linearity electro-optic (EO) modulators play a crucial role in microwave photonics (MWP). Although various methods have been explored to enhance linearity in MWP links, they are often constrained by the intrinsic nonlinearity of modulator materials, the complexity of external control devices, the bulkiness of structures, and bandwidth limitations. In this study, we present an integrated thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN) linear Mach–Zehnder modulator (LMZM), showing, to our knowledge, a record-high spurious-free dynamic range (SFDR) of 121.7dB·Hz4/5 at 1 GHz with an optical power (OP) of 5.5 dBm into the photodetector (PD), based on a wide-bandwidth (>50GHz) dual-optical-mode (TE0 and TE1) co-modulated configuration with just one RF input. Additionally, compared to conventional MZMs (CMZMs), the LMZM exhibits a >10.6-dB enhancement in SFDR with an OP of >-8dBm at 1 GHz, and maintains a 6.07-dB SFDR improvement even at 20 GHz with an OP of 0 dBm. The novel LMZM, featuring high linearity, wide bandwidth, structural simplicity, and high integration, holds significant potential as a key component in future large-scale and high-performance MWP integrated circuits.
    TCMZM=12[1+cos(2αRF+θbias)],

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    TLMZM=R2[1+cos(2αRF+θbias1)]+1R2[1+cos(αRF+θbias2)],

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    VRF=V0[cos(w1t)+cos(w2t)]=V0[cos(2πf1t)+cos(2πf2t)],

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    m=V0Vπ0π,

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    αRF=m[cos(w1t)+cos(w2t)].

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    TCMZMSignal=12sinθbiasJ1(2m)J0(2m)12msinθbias,

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    TCMZMIMD3=12sinθbiasJ1(2m)J2(2m)14m3sinθbias.

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    TLMZMSignal=R2sinθbias1J1(2m)J0(2m)+1R2sinθbias2J1(m)J0(m),

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    TLMZMIMD3=R2sinθbias1J1(2m)J2(2m)+1R2sinθbias2J1(m)J2(m),

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    TLMZMSignalR2msinθbias1+1R4msinθbias2,

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    TLMZMIMD3R4m3sinθbias1+1R32m3sinθbias2.

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    Heyun Tan, Junwei Zhang, Jingyi Wang, Songnian Fu, Siyuan Yu, Xinlun Cai, "High-linearity wide-bandwidth integrated thin-film lithium niobate modulator based on a dual-optical-mode co-modulated configuration," Photonics Res. 13, 817 (2025)
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