InP-based waveguide optical modulator using the concept of metamaterials

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25420321
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Electron device/Electronic equipment
• Research Institution: Tokyo Institute of Technology
• Principal Investigator: TOMOHIRO Amemiya 東京工業大学, 量子ナノエレクトロニクス研究センター, 助教 (80551275)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: 集積フォトニクス / 光メタマテリアル / 化合物半導体

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Metamaterials promise ground-breaking new functionalities such as a negative index of refraction, invisibility, and imaging with super resolution. One new trend in this field is to think of metamaterials as devices in which the structure of the metal and the hybridization with functional agents bring new functionality. We report the experimental demonstration of a permeability-controlled waveguide optical modulator consisting of an InGaAsP/InP Mach-Zehnder interferometer with tri-gate metamaterial attached on its arms. The tri-gate metamaterial consists of metal resonator arrays and triple-gate field effect elements. Its permeability changes with changes in the gate bias voltage from 2 to 12 V, thereby changing the refractive index to switch the modulator with an extinction ratio of 6.9 dB at a wavelength of 1.55 um. The result shows the feasibility of InP-based photonic integrated devices that can produce new functions by controlling their permeability as well as their permittivity.

Free Research Field

集積フォトニクス