Sub-volt Electro-optic Modulator with 100 GHz Bandwidth
Driven directly from electronic chips Consumes hundreds of times less power Allows for 100GHz bandwidth
Fiber optic networks Transmission systems This technology is available for licensing. Patent pending2013-171 Published Paper 1 2013-171 Published Paper 2
Researchers at the University of California, Santa Barbara, have developed an electro-optic modulator with 100 GHz electrical to electrical bandwidth. The drive voltage required to turn the modulator on and off is less than 1 V and can be as low as 0.4 V; therefore it can be directly driven from electronic chips. This also means that the modulator consumes significantly less power than traditional modulators, while meeting or surpassing speed and bandwidth needs. It is also optically broadband and works at least over the C band (1530 nm-1565 nm).
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Background In the last few years, there has been an astronomical increase in the amount of data that is transmitted over the internet. The only viable technology to transmit such vast amounts of information on demand is fiber optics technology, but the issue with fiber optics is that it requires an electrical signal to be converted into an optical signal via an optical modulator. To achieve desired speeds (100GHz is the latest benchmark), these modulators require approximately 10 volts or higher to function, but at high speeds or high frequencies, existing electronic chips cannot generate the required voltage level. The desire, therefore, is to create an optical modulator that has low enough power requirements that it can be powered by an electronic chip but has high enough speed and wide bandwidth. Tech ID/UC Case 22863/2013-171-0 Related Cases 2013-171-0
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