LiNbO3 integrated optic devices with an UV-curable polymer buffer layer

A new lithium niobate optical modulator with a polymer buffer layer on Ni in-diffused optical waveguide is proposed for the fist time, successfully fabricated and examined at a wavelength of 1.3 mm. By determining the diffusion parameters of Ni in-diffused waveguide to achieve more desirable mode size which is well matched to the mode in the fiber, the detailed results on the achievement of high optical throughput are reported. In addition, the usefulness of polymer buffer layer which can be applicable to a buffer layer in Ni in-diffused waveguide devices is demonstrated. Several sets of channel waveguides fabricated on Z-cut lithium niobate by Ni in-diffusion were obtained and on which coplanar traveling-wave type electrodes with a polymer-employed buffer layer were developed by a conventional fabrication method for characterizing of electro-optical performances of the proposed device. The experimental results show that the measured half-wave voltage is of ~10 V and the total measured fiber-to-fiber insertion loss is of ~6.4 dB for a 40 mm long at a wavelength of =1.3 mm, respectively. From the experimental results, it is confirmed that the polymer-employed buffer layer in LiNbO3 optical modulator can be a substitute material instead of silicon oxide layer which is usually processed at a high temperature of over $300^{\circ}C$. Moreover, the fabrication tolerances by using polymer materials in LiNbO3 optical modulators are much less strict in comparison to the case of dielectric buffer layer.