Optical waveguide electric field sensor with controllable operating point using asymmetric Mach-Zehnder structure  

作　　者：谢璐雯 陈开鑫 李金星 

机构地区：[1]School of Communication and Information Engineering, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China

出　　处：《Optoelectronics Letters》2013年第2期81-84,共4页光电子快报（英文版）

基　　金：supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 61177054)

摘　　要：For an integrated electro-optical sensor, the operating point has a significant effect on the performance of the sensor. In this paper, an optical waveguide electric field sensor with controllable operating point is designed using LiNbO3 materials, which has an asymmetric Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) structure. Theoretical results show that the optimal operating point can be obtained and controlled by tuning the output wavelength of the tunable laser used in the sensing system. The simulation results show that the sensitivity about 83 dB·μV/m can be obtained, and the linear dynamic range as large as 60 dB can be achieved. And the fabrication tolerance of the center-to-center distance for the 3 dB coupler used in the asymmetric MZI is ~0.5 μm, while the power splitting ratio of the Y branch is with more tolerance.For an integrated electro-optical sensor, the operating point has a significant effect on the performance of the sensor. In this paper, an optical waveguide electric field sensor with controllable operating point is designed using LiNbO3 mate- rials, which has an asymmetric Mach-Zehnder interferometer （MZI） structure. Theoretical results show that the opti- mal operating point can be obtained and controlled by tuning the output wavelength of the tunable laser used in the sensing system. The simulation results show that the sensitivity about 83 dB.~tV/m can be obtained, and the linear dy- namic range as large as 60 dB can be achieved. And the fabrication tolerance of the center-to-center distance for the 3 dB coupler used in the asymmetric MZI is -0.5 I^m, while the power splitting ratio of the Y branch is with more toler- ance.

关 键 词：电场传感器 结构可控 非对称 光学波导 马赫 铌酸锂材料 可调谐激光器 线性动态范围 

分 类 号：TP212[自动化与计算机技术—检测技术与自动化装置] TN252[自动化与计算机技术—控制科学与工程]